Trekking to Everest Base Camp

Marcel DAllende

South Africa

Visited Nepal: August 29, 2015

– September 13, 2015

Anita (my trekking buddy) and I committed to trek to Everest Base Camp in January of 2015, we paid our deposit on the 25th of March one month before the first earthquake in Nepal. I cannot say that we were not shook up by the media coverage, but we are practical people who also knew that there was enough time for recovery before we were supposed to start our trekking end Aug 2015. And then the major aftershock happened on the 12th of May…….

We arrived in Nepal without doing too much research since we did not want our experience to be influenced by other’s perceptions. Our trek started the very next morning with our flight out from Kathmandu to Lukla…. we were so lucky to fly out on that Sunday, all flights were cancelled for the rest of the week and the next flight into Lukla was only on the following Friday. I saw this as a good omen and declared that the rest of our trip will be as blessed as our flight out…:-) As we trekked, there were some areas were we saw some homes still being rebuilt, but I have to commend the Nepalese people, what resilience they have! I’m from Africa where we have our fair share of natural and war torn disasters and the difference I noticed as an African is that nobody asked for a ‘hand-out’, everybody simply went about their business, doing what needs to be done to get their homes rebuilt. Their lives continued with as much normalcy as possible and people are still smiling and laughing and generally enjoying life. I am in awe that not only did we receive the best Nepalese hospitality, we also got to witness what true resilience looks like!

Our trek was everything we could have wished for, the excitement, the adventure, the beauty of the Himalayas and the warmth of the Nepalese people. We did witness some landslide areas, but our guides were great in pointing out the areas where we were urged to ‘continue without taking pics’ hehhehe and we simply followed their guidance. We reached EBC on the 8th day of trekking and Kala Patthar the day after. We returned safe from the mountain and even had an extra couple of days to explore the magic of Kathmandu, which is not as ‘devastated’ as I expected based on the media coverage! For me personally, I am happy that I am not swayed by others opinions and certainly not swayed by the ‘drama’ that the media covers to sensationalize a story, for if I was, I would never have gifted myself the opportunity of trekking the majestic Himalayas and the magic of Kathmandu itself. Nepal is as safe as any other country I’ve traveled with all the normal stuff that you have to be aware of. Please do not punish the people of Nepal more than they’ve already suffered by postponing your travel plans, they need you now more than ever. And as a hiker, I appeal to the other hikers out there…use this as an opportunity to give back and book your travels to experience the majestic Himalayas!