WHEN – 26th March 2024 – 8th April 2024
TRANSPORT
Flight 1 – Hong Kong to Kathmandu with Cathay Pacific @ 7.00 pm – 1 piece 23kg – 5 hrs
Airport pick-up to a local hotel and then a 5/6 hr drive overnight to Ramechhap Manthali for the flight to Lukla.
Flight 2 – Ramechhap Manthali to Lukla – wow this is a mad flight haha!!
Flight 3 – This was actually a helicopter back to Kathmandu!
Flight 4 – Kathmandu to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific @ 11 pm – 2 pieces 23kg – 4hs (airmiles)
ACCOMMODATION
Night 1 – Hotel Thamel
Night 2 – Trekkers Lodge – Phakding
Night 3 – Tibet Teahouse – Namche Bazaar
Night 4 – Everest View Hotel – Pangbouche
Night 5 – Yak Guesthouse – Dingbouche
Night 6 – The Everest Pyramid Guesthouse (Just past Lobouche)
Night 7 – Himalayan View Guesthouse – Gorekshep
Night 8 – The Everesy Pyramid Guesthouse
Night 9 – Kathmandu Hospital
Night 10 – Kathmandu Hospital
DAY 1 – MARCH TUE 26TH – HONG KONG TO KATHMANDU
I got to the airport at 5 pm. I was able to check my luggage in the AirPort Express at Hong Kong station so that was handy. Waited by the gate for an hour with a coffee and was looking over my trip. The flight was at 7 pm and was about 5 hours. I watched a really bad movie with Meg Ryan where they are stuck in the airport. And then Les Mis. I had a meal and a beer on the plane, it was a daal curry thing. I didn’t really sleep, maybe 30 minutes or so.
I arrived in Kathmandu airport at about 10 pm with the time difference. I got my Visa on Arrival there – it was handy enough. You had to fill in your details at the kiosk machine and then bring it to the visa on-arrival counter and pay 35 USD and voila you get your visa. The immigration queue was also ok, like a 10/15 minute wait. I went through and exchanged USD for Nepalese money and then got a SIM card too for 15 days which was 11 USD. (but this won’t work past Namche Bazaar apparently just fyi haha – I didn’t quite think that one true)! Anjan from the tour company Nepal High Trek was waiting for me with a big sign! And then they took this flower necklace, bright yellow out of a bag, put it around my neck, and took some pictures haha!
We drove to the Hotel Thamal at about 11ish. Annan said that we needed to get a transfer to Manthali (a wee town 5 hours from Kathmandu) to get a flight to Lukla as the flights had been canceled from Kathmandu for the past three days due to weather. Soooo, I asked the guy at the hotel if he would not charge me as I was leaving in an hour and he was so, so nice about it. I just waited there on the couch and went through my stuff and put it into a duffel bag. The manager even gave me free water, so lovely. I hope to stay here on my return. So on we went at 1 am to catch a hiace van to Manthali, there was just me and a lovely Italian guy called Fabio 🙂 who was doing Mera Peak (6,600m) brave!! And Cat and Jake from Hong Kong joined later, haha what were the odds. They were doing EBC! Now, I can’t even explain this absolute rollercoaster wild bumpy ride to Manthali! What the hell, I should’ve remembered how crazy and bumpy the roads were here haha, so needless to say I got zero sleep of what I had thought I would get and was more holding on for dear life so I wouldn’t get flung off my seat haha. Apart from that though, we had space and seats were comphy lol!!
DAY 2 – MARCH WED 27TH – MANTHALI TO LUKLA TO PHAKDING (2-3 hours, 2660m)
So we arrived at Manthali airport (a shed basically) at 5.30 am and my flight was due to leave at 6 am but I knew it would be highly unlikely that I would get a flight at that time as there was a three day backlog of people waiting to fly. So I was prepared for the worst and was just going to go with it. I sat into the wee cafe for a coffee and we went to the desk @ Sita Airlines and the guy there called…..Loksee was so bloody helpful and really nice. He was literally managing the whole place and trying to get everyone sorted.
After about three hours, I was given my boarding pass and was able to fly at 9.20 am. Seeing the planes take off was so weird haha, you could literally stand on the tiny runway and watch them. The check-in place was just like a glass window and the departure gate was a curtain haha. So I was so nervous getting on the plane, with about 16 seats and ONE row on each side. Quite an old plane too and the cock pit just had a little curtain to close it. It was a 20-minute flight and I was freaked a little, although beautiful when we could only see clouds, all I could think was, what can the pilots see? I know I was being silly but I was just closing my eyes haha. We basically landed on a mountain on the shortest runway of all time! Woohoo we got to Lukla at about 10 am. I met my guide Ramesh and my porter Ber. I was so lucky to get that flight today so I was delighted. We went for breakfast in a place called Paradise Lodge and Restaurant before we started hiking. I had coffee and 2 boiled eggs with toast.
Before we started I changed my clothes into more hiking clothes. The toilets are all squatted mostly and you defo need to bring your own toilet roll!! So todays trek is classed as easy just to get you to Phadking. It took about three hours and was downhill and uphill and some bridges with fantastic views. The mules with their bells are heard in the distance and we passed through lovely little villages. We stopped a few times for water breaks, it was lovely. I was lacking all the sleep so I was happy to arrive there early. I stayed at a place called Trekkers Lodge. I had hot lemon, honey, and ginger yum, and the Nepali veg daal plate for lunch (they give you free top-ups if you want)!! I went to my room and chilled for a bit, it’s a very old room but honestly, that’s typical for the tea houses, they still had a bed and a blanket! I did some diary writing, gave lots of voice notes with updates, and tried to have a little nap too.
I went back to the common area, where lots of people were hanging out, playing cards, and having fun. I stayed with Ramesh for a while and went back to my room and read for a bit and back for dinner at 7 pm. I got momos, which were steamed veg dumplings basically, they were nice. I wrote in my diary there for a bit. Didn’t really get chatting to anyone but I was happy to just go to bed and have an early night! Omg though, I was putting sauce on the dumplings and I was like I wonder what this green chilli sauce tastes like, so I try to squeeze a little bit from the bottle and nothing so I try again with more force and THE WHOLE BOTTLE EXPLODES all over the plate and bits splashed onto my face too, haha I was mortified but it was funny. I think my guide thinks I am a little crazy lol. So back to the room at about 8.30 and got ready for bed, double layers, watched some videos, and off to sleep. Some loud noise was banging against the wall and with the corner of my eye and my phone torch, I saw a huge fecking moth thing, it was bloody massive, literally the size of my head!! So up I jump and turn on the light open the door and try to shoo it out for five minutes, it left without any major drama haha. I went to sleep with the lights on then around 10 pm. I survived the day haha.
Day 3 – MARCH Thur 28TH – PHADKING to NAMCHE BAZAAR (5-6 hours, 3,440m)
I was up at 6 am. Got myself up and sorted and did some stretches. I went in for brekkie at 7 am, porridge and apple with a black coffee. We hit the road at 8.30 ish and for the first 2 hours, it was flat and up and down a bit. I felt ok, just breathless, no headache or anything. We ended up getting to Bishal (which was down by the river) at like 10.30 so it was an early lunch, haha!! I met two older ItalianS and they were so interesting, one was a doctor and was going on a mission to Madagascar after his trek, he did the trek 21 years ago and now he was doing it again with a friend. Then two lovely Aussie girls joined me for lunch and were chatting away. They were so friendly and one of them was called Dani. We arranged to meet later that evening with Kat and her boyfriend in the Irish bar in Namche Bazaar haha!
I had the Daal for lunch again and we had a 2 -3 hour climb up ahead of us. Of we went slow and steady. My breathing was really heavy so maybe we were going slightly faster than we needed. I was finding it tough like, defo not a walk haha. We had a few water stops on the way. After 1.5/2hrs we made it to Namche Bazaar… wow wow wow, really beautiful…loads of tea houses in the middle of the mountains. Oh and today’s weather was UNREAL, like blue skies and beautiful views. I took a million pictures, we crossed many steel bridges and yaks! Also, the smell of fresh pine all day was so, so lovely. I am trying to remember more details of the day. Just take it all in. Got to my tea house, Tibet Tea House at 1.30 pm. I sat in the quiet common area and had a hot ginger and lemon. Then I was brought up to my room which had two beds and a lovely view from the window. The clouds started coming in then in the afternoon and the views of the mountains disappeared. I sat in my room typing this and pottering around till about 4.30.
Ramesh was like come on and we will go explore Namche…so off we went. There was everything here so if you needed money changed, toilet paper, souvenirs, food, medicine…you would get it all here before continuing on. I got 150 USD exchanged. See, the higher you go up things start getting really expensive such as water even, like 4USD per bottle and you probably need about 4 litres a day after 4000m. I bought a hiking badge! Ramesh went back to the tea house and I continued to explore. I met an Irish couple outside the Irish bar and I said I would see them later in there (it was lovely and cozy as I popped my head in earlier). She was called Orna, they were both sound, he was a dub and she was from Meath. They both quit their jobs and planned to travel the world for a year at least!! I went and had a little coffee in a bakery called Sherpa Bakery. It was so cute. I got a cinnamon roll and a coffee. I did a few wee Insta stories and went and got a Yak blanket for 15 USD. It’s lovely and mustard and will match my grey couch. It’s also for the mountains in case I get freezing, lol.
I went back up to Tibet Guesthouse for 7 pm and had the Nepali Dahl set again, it was delish and I got more Dahl free :). I made my way down to the Irish bar for 8 pm. It was really wet and misty out. I popped in and there were lots of young folks playing pool and they were very loud, then I saw the Irish couple from earlier and chatted to them for a bit. Kat was feeling tired and I never saw the two Aussie girls and had no way to contact them. So I only stayed 30 minutes and my guide reminded me not to have any beer as I was climbing up tomorrow haha. I didn’t by the way.
So a bit of a new plan now, we are going to do Everest Base Camp instead of the original plan of going to Gyoko Lakes, and then try Cho Lo pass and across to Gokyo. Hopefully, there is a shared helicopter or something from there, and get to Lukla and Kathmandu! All a bit mad but sure I’ll go with it. I went up to bed at 9.30 ish, got all cozy, watched a bit of Blood and Water, and was asleep by 11. A nice sleep. I was up in the middle of the night for a bit but all good. I really liked this accommodation and the toilets were kept clean! 🙂
Day 4 – MARCH fri 29TH – NAMCHE BAZAAR to PANGBOCHE (6 / 7 HOURS, 4000M)
I woke up at 6 am. So today, after chatting with Ramesh we are skipping the climatization day and heading straight to Pongbouche. So I packed up my things and went down for breakfast at 7.30. Apple porridge again and a black coffee. I ate half of it. We started trekking at 8.15ish and the first 20 minutes was climbing up out of the village and then it was reasonably flat for about an hour. It was quite busy and still some ups which I found quite hard. There were lots of Yak traffic jams which was fun to see. The weather was very cloudy so there were no views really, just the clouds in the mountains. After the flat, we descended steeply for about an hour down to the riverside called Phungitange. We got there at 10.15, it was too early for lunch so had a coffee and some biscuits in a cafe called Gora Tapting Fast Food Restaurant. I was feeling ok at this stage but we had a 2.5-hour climb ahead of up.
We started at 10.30 and Ramesh kept the pace nice and slow and steady. It was really tough though and I started to get a wee headache. We stopped for a few water stops but I was happy to go very slowly and keep going. I was thinking about how other people felt at this stage of the trek regarding tiredness and headaches but I think the way I was feeling was normal. We reached Tengboche at 11.50 which we were expecting 12.50. I felt really tired at this point, the climb was really hard. I was able to eat my lunch which was the Sherpa Stew and was bloody delicious!! Veg, pasta, spaghetti, potatoes and carrots, and it was a really salty tasty broth, yum yum!! Ramesh made me finish it all, and said I need it for energy. Oh, and I was also getting really cold.
After lunch, we went into Tengboche Monastery (300 entry) and walked around, and said a few prayers. Wow, when you entered the actual prayer room, it was so colourful and there was a monk in there praying. It felt quite surreal so I spent a little time there saying a few prayers and looking at all the beautiful colours around the place. From here it was another hour and a half to the final destination. It was downhill for a bit and was quite mucky, lots of yaks again and we saw some mountain sheep. Then after the down it was flat for a bit with some ups and also little villages along the way. There were stone walls and blue and white tea houses. Then we crossed another bridge – it was so cloudy crossing this one. From there it was gradually up for like 45 minutes, I felt every step and wasn’t feeling great to be honest. Stopped more times for breaks here, I think Ramesh knew I was tired at this point. We reached the ‘shopping centre ‘ in Pangbouche haha and then from there it was another 15 mins up steep steps. God, I was so happy to reach the tea house at 2.10 pm.
I sat in the common area for a bit and we chatted to a guy from Malta who had climbed loads of mountains around the place, including Island Peak (over 6000m). He was going to climb AMA Dablam (6812m) the mad human haha! He was very jolly and friendly. Then I went up to my room, got my stuff together, and had a hot shower for 5USD and by god did I need it. Didn’t wash my hair as there was no way it would dry so it’ll be dry shampoo for the rest of the trip I reckon!! Omg though, I forgot to bring my towel into the shower room, which was OUTSIDE in the freezing cold, so after the shower I had to put back on half my clothes and fly up to my room to dry myself properly haha, what am I like? I did feel a little better though. I had hot water and took two headache tablets. Sat in the room for an hour and typed for a bit and then continued it downstairs in the common room which was warmer. Ramesh was sitting with me as I was typing all of this haha! Tomorrow is a shorter day which I am happy about. I wrote this till 5.30 pm and then had a hot chocolate :0). I chilled in the common area, had dinner at 6.30, the daal. Then I chilled by the stove and wrote in my diary till 8 pm. I was chatting to a lad from LA for a bit and then I went to bed at 9 pm. Read my book and fell asleep. I didn’t need my sleeping bag, I used both blankets instead! 🙂 I woke up with a banging headache at 12 am, took an ibuprofen, and fell back asleep through the night.
Day 5 – MARCH Sat 30TH – PANGBOUCHE to DINGBOUCHE (3 hrs – 4410m)
I woke up at 6 am and had free time so I replied to some people. OMG I opened my curtains and the views were just incredible!! I couldn’t get over the mountains, so many white peaks that looked like a fake backdrop!!! I got ready and got my stuff together. I lost one pair of glasses, I think I left them in Namche Bazaar because they weren’t in the lodge.
We started our hike today at 8.30am. The start was ok, up and down a little but felt ok. It was a really wide landscape and barron with 360 views of the mountains. AmaDablam was in view the whole time, just stunning. Blue skies and white mountains. The last hour was harder as there was more of an incline. We arrived at Yak Teahouse in Dingbouche just before 11 am. It is a cute village, with lots of wee tuk shops, and many bakeries too. Lots of blue rooftops and stone walls! A really cute place. I bought some Nepal flags for 2 USD. We chilled in the lodge for a bit and had coffee and biscuits. I wasn’t ready for lunch yet.
Then acclimatisation time. We went towards Nakarsang Hill. We had to go and climb another 260m which got us to 4700m, wow. I actually felt ok apart from the normal breathlessness, but no headache thank god!! 🙂 I was just so in awe of the views and mountains, absolutely stunning. We went up and down in 1.5 hours. I had lunch then in the Teahouse, the Sherpa Veg stew, it was lovely. Thicker than yesterday with potato and rice. I cleaned it :). Omg, I bumped into Ciaran and the gang from Hong Kong, so good to see them and I will catch up with them later.
I was feeling ok and at 3 pm, I went down to the country house guest house and sat with the HK gang for hours. There was Ciaran, Charlotte, Donnchadh and Mashiat. It was so cozy in this little cafe, we had all the chats, water, coffee, and treats and it was just lovely to have company. Ciaran and Charlotte are moving back to Hong Kong which is very exciting. I went for a stroll and got some bread and biscuits for the next few days. I headed back to my Teahouse at 7 pm for my veg curry. It was so much potatoes and rice but I gave it a good go lol. I love how Ramesh always says, you need to finish that now, haha. I went up to bed about 9 pm, it was really cold that night. It was snowing when I went to bed, I wrapped up warm with my heat packs and went to sleep.
Day 6 – MARCH Sun 31st – DINGBOUCHE to LOBOUCHE – Everest Pyramid (4 hrs – 4910)
I woke up at 6.30 am. I got up and got ready for breakfast. It’s Easter Sunday!! It was like a winter wonderland outside today, so, so beautiful. I had chapatti and eggs for brekkie (Mashiat put it in my head)! I was hiking with Ciaran and the gang today. It was so lovely to hike with people. So Charlotte had to go to the docs to get the go-ahead for hiking and we all headed off about 8.30 am. The trail seemed way busier today. Honestly, the views today were just incredible. The first part was an initial climb and then for the next 2.5 hrs it was up and down and flat, then up again for the lunch spot just before we climbed Thukla Pass. We took loads of pictures en route which was nice too!
I got to the lunch spot at about 11ish and the gang followed. I had wai wai noodles (basically a pot noodle). Hit the spot. We all felt a bit tired at this point. I went on ahead as I was staying a little further from Loboche (40 min walk). So the big climb to Thukla Pass and Scott Fisher’s Memorial was an intense hour. I know an hour doesn’t seem much, but you look up and can nearly see the top but yet it takes so, so long to reach there as you are only taking about ten steps every minute. You have to take it so, so slow, and even at that it’s a challenge. But WOW at the top of this pass, I was blown away, maybe my favourite view of the whole trek. All the mountains in the background and all the prayer flags too. It was quite an emotional place and you can walk around and read all about the people that have died on the mountains. We spent about 20 mins there and continued on the trail.
I was starting to feel tired and a bit queasy to be honest. It took about 2 hours to get to Loboche. I defo felt like I needed to sit down and have a break, I was just very weak all of a sudden. So we sat inside a Teahouse and had coffee and biscuits, even the coffee was hard to stomach. Ramesh said it was another 20/30 mins to the Everest Pyramid accommodation, so off we went and it took 40 mins and I felt every step and every tiny incline (what’s going on?) :0( I get inside the accommodation. It looked very cool from the outside, literally a glass pyramid, class. I sat inside and could barely talk, a lovely Irish couple was there, Dawn and Niall, both living and teaching in Abu Dhabi. They were also so sick, we spoke for a bit and then the guy asked if anyone wanted to go up and see and hear about the research center. It was a one-minute walk, one minute, and I was done lol. I sat inside and started to have the shakes and felt really ill, I had to leave suddenly and then I started crying because I felt so weak. Ramesh nearly died; he was so worried. He took me upstairs and brought up all my things. I got into the room and after a few minutes I got sick into the bin in the bedroom, I didn’t even have time to run to the toilet. Oh, sweet Jesus, I thought this was it and I would have to descend down but I lay down for a bit and was able to go downstairs and sit in the corner and have tea.
I read my book for a little while and the Irish couple came down. I crawled over to them and we chatted for a bit, all still feeling so rough. Ramesh made me get garlic, potato soup and the thought of it made me gag but actually, it was ok when I had it. I also took some medication for my tummy. I went up to bed at 8ish and Ramesh stayed in the room too to keep an eye on me and there were five beds haha! I tried to sleep but every hour, I swear I woke up needing to cough, pee, breathe properly, take painkillers, etc. The sensation was crazy, it was like my chest was closing in and suddenly I would have to take a deep breath. Just when I was about to fall asleep, the same sensation would happen again. This happened all through the night until 6 am!
Day 7 – APRIL Mon 1st – LOBOUCHE to GORAKSHEP (5180) – Everest base camp (5364)
I woke up at 6 am, oh dear, so no sleep but felt ok ish. Like I had no banging headache or crazy tummy pains but I did feel a bit weak. I assumed this was normal. I had porridge for breakfast and it was actually ok and a coffee. Dawn and Niall were down shortly after me and both of them lacked appetite. I said my goodbyes and off I went. It was three hours to Gorakshep and I kid you not as soon as we left the Everest Pyramid hotel it was a steep uphill over the mountain….why?! Haha! I had to stop and take my poles out. This was the first time I used them and wow, a great help. I kept going, very slowly and honestly, I felt queasy most of the way. We were walking on a ridge because we came from a different accommodation. It was so secluded and then we matched up with other trekkers. The path was defo busier here but still fine I was happy with whatever breaks I could get. It was stony and rocky terrain. Everybody I looked at, had a look of pain on their face ha,ha.
So after 2.5/3 hours we reach Gorekshep, wow the last place you can stay before Everest Base Camp!! We got there at about 9.30 and Ramesh was saying I need to have some soup or something before we continue to BASE CAMP!!! The name of the accommodation was Himalayan View. I put my stuff up in my room and only packed the essentials with me for the base camp trek. I am not going to lie, I felt really scared as I was feeling awful but I knew it’d only be a few hours. Ramesh was like, so are you excited? And then I felt bad, I should’ve been so excited to reach base camp but honestly, all I was thinking was how will I do this and not get sick? The start was flat for 30 mins and then it started to go up and down quite a bit. The views along the way were stunning. Another glorious day where the background actually looked fake. We stopped and took plenty of pics en route. Oh, and Ramesh actually took my bag cause he saw that I was weak, bless him. I could see base camp in the distance with all the wee yellow tents and on route, you can get a better view of Everest because we were slightly higher up. Then after 2 or so hours, we descended into the famous BASE CAMP!! It was quiet when we arrived as we left so bloody early haha, so there was hardly anybody there!
But yeah, it was pretty bloody cool to have arrived there. Oh, and one weird thing, the sign on base camp was a big billboard of Edward Hillary and Tenzing Norway. It looked so out of place there. I thought the old stone with the red spray pain was a better sign lol. Supposedly there has been loads of backlash about taking it away and keeping the original sign. We made our way back after ten or so minutes. We met lots on the way and it got a little busier. I met Dawn and Niall on the way, it was lovely to see them, they were wrecked too but they were going to make it! 🙂
And then I saw Ciaran and the gang! Awh, it was so lovely to see them, but I was barely able to chat with them. I was so weak but they were ok, obviously wrecked too but delighted they were all nearly there! So after an hour and a half of pure torture haha I made it back to Gorekshep. Wow, I made it to Everest Base Camp. I was happy but also so emotional, I don’t know why, I’m blaming the altitude, haha. I came in and knew I could relax then, there was no way in hell that I was climbing Kala Pattar for sunset haha. I lay down for a few hours till about 4.30 pm and conked. It was a nice nap. Ramesh woke me and said to come down to eat somethin
I peeled myself away and made it downstairs. I sat in the corner down the back and watched the mountains. I actually ordered popcorn as that was nice and plain. I just sat and people-watched. Some were emotional, some were playing cards, others were chatting and I was just watching. I wrote in my diary for a bit. Ramesh came over to me and again I started crying, I just felt like I needed a big cry, but for no reason, maybe just pure exhaustion. I know others were also struggling but this didn’t feel normal you know. It happened before when I did Potosi in La Paz, which was 6000m, and also when doing Kilimanjaro so I was like I’m grand. Then Ramesh was like stop crying, you should feel happy haha. I tried to explain that it’s ok for me to have a cry but he didn’t understand. Anyway, he made me order dinner, daal of course, and said I needed to eat it all if I was going to do Kala Pattar in the morning ahhh. Now, I knew there was no pressure to do it but I said I would sleep and see how I felt when I woke up. Off to bed I went at 8 pm and set out the clothes for the morning.
Day 8 – APRIL Tue 2nd – GOREKSHEP to KALA PATTAR (5550m) – DZONGLA (4800m) – (RE-ROUTE) back to Everest Pyramid (5050m)
I woke up at 4 am. Ok, well I slept 8 hours and I wasn’t sick, so I said I would give it a go. Got three layers on the bottom, and five on top lol. Hat, gloves, heat packs, and head torch. Ready to go and attempt Kala Pattar. We left at 4.30 am and wow, when I stepped outside I could see the shadow of the mountains and all the stars in the sky. Amazing! I could also see all the lights ahead of me on the mountain, it was painful knowing I had to reach that distance. It was a solid 2.5-hour of pure slog and incline. I feel like I am being more dramatic than maybe how others imagined it but again, I was literally counting to ten and then taking a break, like ‘ok Amy, do ten steps, and stop’. It was all getting me closer but every step was a serious struggle. We got 1.5 hrs up and I felt woohoo nearly at the top as a few people were chilling there. We could see a really nice view of Everest and some people turned around at this point. Ramesh said it would take another hour at least to reach the top, I thought about it and I was like ok, I can do this. He said the view is the same but people just want to reach 5550m.
So the hell continued, it was bright at this stage, and no sunrise but still a very clear view. The last part was so rocky so it was more of a scramble. I would take three steps and then lean into a rock for a rest. People were really struggling. Made it to the top and wow the views were 360 and it was wild and fresh up there. I sat for five minutes as it was so cold. The mountains were just insane. Descending down was ok, but my face was really swollen! Got down in about an hour. Then walking flat and the little 5-meter incline to the guesthouse proved to be a difficult step again. When I got inside, I sat down and ordered eggs on toast for brekkie.
I wanted just to take it all in but I knew I had another 5 hours trek to go to my accommodation for the night in Dzongla. Ramesh was saying we should go after we eat but I honestly just wanted to have a nap. I went up to pack my bags very slowly, even putting the sleeping bag in the bag took forever ha. I got myself sorted yet again for the trek ‘down and flat’ apparently. I should’ve known it was too good to be true as I just hiked this same path the day before! There were many people on the route and a few little hold-ups that I took full advantage of and leaned against anything that would hold me. The horses, yaks and people made the place lively. Then I bumped into Cat (HK) and she was struggling too, the altitude was just getting to us!!
About one hour in, I said to Ramesh that I really didn’t feel well and did I have to hike for another 4 hours. I genuinely wouldn’t be able. He said ok, let’s go back the Everest Pyramid place and stay there and then see what to do. Ok, so on we went so slowly, I could barely grip my poles tight, and then …. It happened, projectile vomit all over the mountain. It was so scary but it needed to happen and then it wouldn’t stop. I walked another few steps and got sick again…f**k f**k f**k, this was a worry and one I wasn’t going to take lightly. We had to continue walking to the Pyramid as there was no other way. An hour of hell to get there… the weakness was up there with Potosi and just a very scary feeling. We got to the Pyramid and all I asked was to lie down for five minutes. Ramesh took all my insurance details and contacted Anjan to arrange a helicopter.
I knew at this stage I had to call it as the next two days were to be the hardest of the trip!! He got me some lemon ginger tea and after I took a sip I ran outside to vomit again. Oh god, this was truly awful. My poor porter was so worried about me too. I went upstairs and lay down and fell asleep for a few hours. The helicopter was meant to come but then couldn’t land with the wind. So I was asked to walk for 20 mins and then Ramesh sent a picture of me in a heap and said I wasn’t able to walk 1 min never mind 20. So it was decided that I stay there for the night and get a helicopter in the morning.
I went back to sleep and Ramesh said I needed to come to eat something (garlic soup) please god no. I said I’d try some tomato soup and plain pizza bread. The soup was fine and I managed a slice of pizza lol and then just sat in a daze for an hour, again people watching. I wish I had cards but no real energy to play. I was sad that I wasn’t buzzed if you know what I mean but honestly, this was such a debilitating feeling, all I wanted was to feel better. I wrote in my diary and drank some water and went up to bed at 8ish. I genuinely thought I would be able to sleep but the same thing happened the last time I stayed here with the big gasps of breath and waking every few hours. So my mouth kept getting so dry and dry blood in my nose and Ramesh said not to close my mouth while sleeping as that would make it harder to breathe lol.
DAY 9 – APRIL Wed 3rd – Everest Pyramid – LUKLA to KATHMANDU HOSPITAL
I survived the night anyhow and was up at 5 am brushing my teeth and washing my face. I went downstairs for a few minutes watching everyone getting ready for the day of trekking ahead of them. Although feeling a bit gutted, I could think of nothing worse at the time. I needed to descend and get to a hospital. I truly accepted the fact that I needed to go down and didn’t even try to fight it. My health and safety was far more important.
So…at 6.30 am a helicopter arrived outside the Pyramid, it was so surreal, proper rescue stuff. These guys were amazing. In I get, so noisy, and up we go and fly through the Himalayas towards Lukla, passing all the trails on the way. Ramesh was telling me them all. It was amazing to see all the snowcapped mountains! What a way to get down safely. It took about 20 minutes to get to Lukla and then I waited about two hours there and onto another helicopter to Kathmandu!!! Like the whole way, it was so scary but cool at the same time. Flying so, so close to the mountains and then just over them. I was taking pictures galore and there were five of us in the helicopter.
Like how amazing was it that I could get a helicopter as opposed to flying to Manthali and doing the 5 hour crazy journey back to Kathmandu. So we arrived in the airport, got out of the helicopter and there was an ambulance there waiting for me. I mean what the hell?! I had no idea what was going on but I got in and they took all my vitals. I was lying on the bed and they picked up another two people who were also sick. We chatted on the way to the hospital and all got emotional. A wee girl was there from Ukraine and I just felt so sorry for her.
We got to the hospital and wow, did they take care of us. They carried all our bags, I lay on the bed and they took my blood and oxygen again. Took my blood and put me on two IV drips. They brought me up to a private room and took my lunch order. I was feeling quite hungry at this stage and I had chicken bolognese, a side salad and coffee. I was feeling ok. I was messaging everyone to tell them the news. Then I had a shower, first one in SEVEN days and it was insane. I washed my hair and it felt great. The doctor came back and said my hemoglobin levels were very low and that explains my weakness, shortness of breath etc. I needed to give more samples and I was not sure would they keep me in another day. I would like to get out but I’ll trust the process. The nurses came in and out with tablets, changed IV drips, and took food orders. I had a chicken salad for dinner and it was perfect. I rang mam for an hour and it was great to chat to her. The day flew in and I wrote all this till 9 pm. I watched a wee movie, relaxed, and got a good night’s sleep. The hospital is called Swacon. I watched Everest haha and went to sleep around midnight.
DAY 10 – APRIL Thur 4th – Kathmandu Hospital Swacon
I woke up at 7 am, the nurse took my bloods and gave me tablets. I had eggs and bread for my brekkie. I was put on another IV drip. The doctor came in and said that my bloods were really low. HB was 8. And then said further tests were required to rule out anything serious. They wanted to get to the root cause of the anemia. SO I had another night ahead of me in the hospital. The time flew again, I had spag bol for lunch and then the chicken salad again for dinner. I watched documentaries, looked through pics, messaged my friends, and rested. I was asleep by about 11 pm.
DAY 11 – APRIL Fri 5th – Kathmandu Hospital (Swacon and Novic) and Aagantuk Hotel
I woke up at 6 am because the nurse took my vitals and my bloods. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything as I had to go to a different hospital for more tests. I was driven there at 10 am and returned to my original hospital at 12.30 pm. The tests were a bit invasive but I was ok, just a bit homesick. I was starving by then and had coffee and muesli with yogurt. I watched the Manchester City documentary and I really enjoyed it. I was waiting to be released but omg all the paperwork and insurance stuff that had to be sorted and organized was crazy. Basically, I had to pay for the hospital bill first and then claim it back. It was nearly 4000 USD which I was freaking out about. My cards wouldn’t work and I had to pay in so many different installments with different cards. It was all so confusing. Honestly, it was a seven-hour process to get all that done.
So at 8 pm, the hospital had their car drive me to my hotel called Aagantuk, and wow the boys working there were so bloody lovely. Like so sweet and friendly, I felt like crying haha. I got into the lovely room at 9 pm and went out for some food. It was manic around the Thamal area but I didn’t go far and had a tiny bit of cash that got me a delish veg noodle soup and a well-earned ice cold beer haha. It was 550 rupees for the bill. Thats like 4 USD, mad! I went back to the hotel, had tea, and watched more mountain documentaries haha. I went to sleep after midnight.
DAY 12 – APRIL Sat 6th – Exploring KATHMANDU
I woke up at 8.30ish and went back to sleep till 9.30. I felt fine but still a bit breathless. It’s just going to take a while to get back to normal and I need to accept that! 🙂 I got up and made a coffee and packed all my things, had a shower, and listened to a podcast. I checked out at about 11.30. I went exploring the Thamel area, and strolled around the crazy streets, in and out of hiking stores and souvenir stores. I went to find the Pilgrims Bookstore and I swear I must’ve spent two hours in there looking through books and nic nacs. I bought some heavy books alright haha. Then I went to this store where women weave and hand made everything in the shop. I reckon I spent 100 euro on bags and headbands. Really lovely stuff. I went to Himalayan coffee to have a coffee and chill. Then I met Anjan from Nepal High Trek for another coffee in a different but very cool Himalayan Coffee shop. He gave me a certificate and a beautiful grey pashmina scarf, very sweet. And he bought me coffee. We chatted for a bit and off he went.
Then Cat and her boyfriend ( I keep forgetting his name) met me in the coffee shop for a few hours. It was lovely to catch up with them and just chat about the trek. I got food there and we walked back to the hotel for 6 pm. I could’ve done another day there and just wondered but I’m sure I’ll be back there soon! I repacked my bags, luckily I had two bags to check-in. I wandered again for an hour and then the hospital sent a driver to the hotel to give me my fit to fly docs and then the tour company drove me to the airport for free at 7.30 pm. ‘Twas a great service haha!
I got to the airport at 8 pm and holy moly it was absolute mayhem, I should’ve taken a photo but I was so overwhelmed. You had to enter the airport through security and then because I had business class (so, so lucky) I got then on air miles for an extra 10,000 miles so handy!! I got checked in straight away, then a free ticket into the lounge that had a great spread of food, drinks, cakes, and all!! Amazing!! I had a good dinner… water, wine, and snacks….sorted now. I stayed in the lounge for over 2 hours!! The flight left at 11 pm. Looking forward to getting back to Hong Kong. That was some experience!