The morning we left Lukla
The porters were already loading the first of the duffels when we stepped out of the lodge. A thin ribbon of cloud hung in the valley below, glowing pink where the sun had just started to reach it. Nobody spoke much. At this hour, on this day, there was nothing to say that the Himalayas hadn’t already said louder.
For weeks we’d been reading about this trek — the elevation charts, the acclimatisation schedule, the permits stapled into our passports at the TIMS office in Thamel. None of it prepared us for the actual weight of the first step onto the trail.
Why we chose the longer route
There’s a faster way to Base Camp. Most groups take it. Our guide, a second-generation Sherpa who’d summited Everest four times, made a quiet case for adding two days and skipping the direct path. We were glad we listened.
The side valley he recommended is mostly empty. You pass through villages where children still run out to the trail to practice their English on passing trekkers, and where the only sound at night is wind moving through the prayer flags strung between the monastery and the next ridge over.
What the gear lists miss
Every website will tell you to bring trekking poles and a down jacket and a headlamp. They’re right. What nobody tells you is that the single most-used item in your pack will be the half-roll of toilet paper you stashed in the top pocket as an afterthought.
Bring more than you think. Double it. Then add a small, terrible book that you won’t mind losing pages from. You’ll thank us at 4,300 metres.