I woke around 2300hrs to visit the rest room; seems the copious litres of water I had drunk during the day hadn’t finished with me. The paracetamol I took before bed hadn’t worked and my headache had intensified; so I popped an ibuprofen and went back to sleep. The next thing I knew it was 0600hrs, no headache and I felt refreshed!

There are no showering facilities nor hot water (as this requires a wood stove is to be burning). This meant we had to use a technique that is known as a ‘Whores Bath’ (or a ‘Corby Wash’ for those readers from Northamptonshire!) This involves using baby wipes to clean your armpits and groin region. (We brought a supply of baby wipes with us, thanks to my research for the trip)

We met the group for breakfast of porridge and black tea. One of the quirks of trekking in such a remote region of the world, is not having access to products we take for granted back home. Anything that has a short shelf life, like milk, is almost none existent. Everything has to be transported by the Sherpas on foot, which you can imagine is a slow process. There are no motorized vehicles here.

The further into the Himalayas you go, the rarer items become (and the more expensive), especially luxury items such as milk. However, you soon get used to drinking black tea and even to this day, I prefer tea without milk.

Once fueled up, Rajesh shouted “Djam Djam” (Nepalese for let’s go or move) which is the signal for us to get walking. Leaving Prakding the incline was gentle, traversing more suspension bridges that crisscrossed the river, passing smallholdings with gardens full of green vegetables; I joked with Pete that we are in the shire from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ books.

The path came alongside a waterfall and a small teahouse, overlooked by a snow capped peak. We stopped here for a lemon tea break and a snack. At the shout of ‘Djam Djam’ we continued onwards to the manned entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park (Sagarmatha is the Sherpa name for Everest).

We had to get a photographed permit at the office before we could continue. As part of the equipment and documentation requirements given to us by the travel company, we already had our passport photographs. I now have the permit displayed on a book shelf in my living room.

The group passed through the brick built gatehouse into the national park, continuing along the footpath, still with the gentle incline. This abruptly ended at a suspension bridge that crossed the river, to what looked like a huge, treed rockface. From here the route became fiercely steep, zigzagging it’s way to the Sherpa capitol, Namche Bazaar.

Once we crossed the bridge, two Sherpas and a man on horseback were heading down. The chap on the horse didn’t seem very well, he was pale and had a dazed/vacant look. Turns out he had altitude sickness and was being taken to lower climes, to recover in the Oxygen rich lowlands.

It was tough going as we snaked up the track, dodging yak trains and Sherpas who were practically running past us. We got to a view point and through a clearing in the trees, we got our first view of Sagarmatha herself. Unfortunately Everest’s peak was obscured by clouds and we only got brief glimpses through small gaps.

I couldn’t help but smile seeing our destination in the distance, I just hoped that it would be cloudless when we climb Kala Patthar, to get those infamous views of the tallest mountain in the world.

Late afternoon we arrived at Namche Bazaar. A brightly coloured jewel clinging to the mountain side in a horseshoe shape. We were guided through the narrow, winding streets to our teahouse and home for the next two nights. (Thankfully they had hot water and showers)

Outside there is a patio giving views down the valley we had just ascended. After sorting out our gear, we sat on the patio watching the clouds move in from the valley below. They rolled in like a tide with surprising speed until they enveloped the Sherpa Capitol.

Pete needed some trainers, so we hit the markets and stalls. We had a browse at what was on offer and after treating ourselves to a Mars bar each, we met up with Andre and Nick from our group in a teahouse; soon the rest of the group joined us.

Pete and I, along with two members of the group, Colin and Linda, headed back to the shops. Colin works in sales and used his bartering skills to get a pair of trainers that were 2500 rupees for 1500 rupees! He was so slick at it, expertly using humour to haggle down the price; it was like watching an artist at work!

Pete was over the moon with them, although Nike knock offs, if you ask him, he will say those were the best pair of trainers he has ever owned! We continued browsing as Colin was hunting for a hideous looking item of clothing for a game he wanted to play with the group.

It was called “Dick of the Day”. The idea being, if someone had done something silly or noteworthy, they are nominated to a chosen committee. If it is approved, as a forfeit they would have to wear this item the following day.

After searching almost all the shops in Namche Bazaar, Colin found the ideal item. A fur lined, blue Tibetan style jacket with a floral pattern. At dinner, the game was announced and the first winner was Nick! We all retired for the evening and so far my headache hadn’t returned; long may that last!

Like most good ideas, this one started in a pub. This particular pub was ‘The Old Nags Head’ in Edale within the Peak District. Myself and my good friend Barry had spent a very wet and miserable morning walking the hills around Edale, on a Saturday in Early spring 2008.

As we sat drinking our pints, Barry told me about a colleague who had recently attempted to walk to Everest Base Camp (EBC), however he came down with altitude sickness and was unable to make it to the end point. My response to this was “Soft” and that we could do it.

We were both 24 at the time; Barry had always been a fitness enthusiast and I was doing morning circuit training with an ex-army PT instructor twice a week. Everest Base Camp was as good as done! So we put our money where our mouths were and started to plan.

After some research, we determined the best time to go would be autumn or spring, so we chose Autumn 2009, to give us more time to train and save up for it. We found a travel company that specialised in these types of trips and booked through them.

There were two options we could take: the standard EBC route or the more challenging route to EBC via the Gokyo Lakes. Naturally, to prove how hard we are, we picked the latter. We managed to rope another friend Pete into the endeavor and after a prolonged nagging campaign, I also convinced my brother, also called Pete, to join us.

Over the year we continued training and did some walks in Snowdonia to prepare us for the Himalayas. However as the date approached Pete dropped out and Barry wanted a career change and was due to start teacher training in September 2009. That left me and my brother.

Barry instead took the normal EBC route in spring 2009. He came back a little broken after suffering a stomach bug throughout most of the trek; he did make EBC though. This didn’t sit well, as it dawned on me, that this could be harder than I anticipated. However hearing from his experience and what he had learnt, bolstered my excitement for it and allowed me to refine my gear choice.

At the time I was in a minimum wage job and Pete was still at university, resulting in us equipping ourselves on a budget. The two things we splashed out on, were a warm sleeping bag and footwear. I got some Brasher walking boots, that lasted me years and had been by far the best pair of boots I’ve ever owned. It was a sad, sad day when they gave up the ghost while climbing Barrow in the Lake district.

The route we took starts at Lukla, the location of the most dangerous airport in the world. From here to the Sherpa capitol, ‘Namche Bazaar’; where we took a rest day to aclimatise to the altitude before moving on to the the Gokyo Lakes, to climb the mountain ‘Gokyo Ri’.

There are two glaciers in the region that we followed; ‘Ngozumba Glacier’ where you will find the Gokyo Lakes and the more famous, ‘Khumbu Glacier’ where EBC sits. The two glaciers are separated by the huge peaks, one of which is the towering ‘Cholatse’ at 6,440m. To get between them, you cross the ‘Cho La Pass’.

Once we conquered Cho La Pass we made our way to ‘Gorak Shep’. the last village before EBC. We would then go to EBC before climbing ‘Kala Patthar’; we then descended to ‘Tengboche’ before returning to Lukla.

In a nutshell, that is the background to my adventure in the Himalayas, between the 16th October 2009 to 6th November 2009. The start of my love affair with travelling and long distance hikes.