Everest Trek

In May 2005 I was in Nepal visiting my daughter Jessica who was working as a volunteer in Kathmandu during her gap year. We had planned to join up and go trekking in the Himalaya, with the aim of reaching Everest base camp (EBC) if possible. Because of time available and possible Maoist activity near Jiri, we elected to fly in to Lukla at 2800m saving several days of walking, although this denied us the extra conditioning and acclimatisation that the walk from the roadhead at Jiri would have provided.

We also decided to trek independently, staying at teahouses and lodges, and to forego the luxury of porters or guides. Thus, with our copy of the Lonely Planet guide to Trekking in Nepal we set off to get our Sagamartha National Park permits (which have to be pre-purchased in Kathmadu), and plane tickets for Lukla.