I arrived late evening on the 06.11. in Katmandu. Rush hour time! It was super busy at the small airport. After filling out a few question and paying the 50 USD for your visa you are in Nepal. And the doors opening to a completely different word that we know. Because of my delay Quinten and I nearly arrived at the same time. Lucky we got picked up by our tour manager. We arrived at midnight in the hotel what looked pretty good for Nepal. The first day we slept in because of the again 2 hours time different. We got a delicious breakfast in the Hotel and after that we walked around the city, tried to pick up some cash. In the evening we bought all our gear that we still needed for the trip like hiking sticks and pans. On the 08.11 we drove with a Taxi trough the crazy traffic Katmandu's to Baktapur, a old small town just out of Katmandu. We walked around and had a look to all the old temple and buildings. The 09.11 was our last day without plannings so we chilled in the hotel. Had a lot of chocolate and watched Netflix. For dinner we went out with our tour manager for a typical Nepali food (Dal bhat). The next day we started early in the morning with our sightseeing tour trough Katmandu. We meet our group of 8 Polish people. Unfortunately only one speaks English... we visited the Monkey temple, Pashupatinath Temple and the Boudhanath Shrine. In the evening Quinten and I went to a Indian restaurant where we had really spicy and delicious dinner. And than we packed our bags and went to bed early because we had to get up at 0400am. 10.11.2019
11.11.2019 0400am the Alarm kicked us out of the bed. We cached up with the others in the lobby and got to the Airport. We flew with Sita Air. At 0630 on time where are airborne and on the way to Lukla. We saw a beautiful sunrise over the Himalaya. 30Min later we touched down in Lukla (2800m). we had Breakfast at the tea-house and started our hike at 0930 with beautiful weather. For the first day we walked around 300m down hill along a river. At 1500 we arrived our stay for the first night. A small house with a few rooms just for our group. We could feel that it getting cold in the night. Next morning we got up early to head Breakfast at 0730 and started hiking at 0800. we walked a few km along the river and than it got steep uphill for ca. 700m we all was pretty exhausted after that. We arrived for lunch in Namche Bazaar, and that was it for the day. So we chilled a bit in our hotel and walked around the village. I could feel a bit the altitude.
The 13.11 was our first Acclimation day. We made a ca 400m altitude hike to the mount Everest lookout point. We had a stunning view over Everest and the Mountain around. We went back for lunch and chilled the rest of the day (in 3400m). 14.11 we walked 2 hours on the same altitude with a stunning view over the mountains before we went around 150m down to cross the river, where we had lunch and a break and than it got up to 3800m (Tengbuche). Climbing steep in this altitude is getting bit harder for me because of the thin air. Lucky the following day is over the whole day slowly up to 4400m. Because of the cold temperatures but the strong sun and sweating during the walk I felt a bit sick. Our guide had some medicine for me and Quntin was so friendly to take my backpack for the last 3km. The rest of the day I slept and chilled in the bed. The 16.11 was a acclimation day so we went again to a lookout point. Everybody went up to nearly 5000m but I was still not 100% feeling good so I turned around with 2 of the polish guys who was feeling also not so good. In the evening when Quntin returned we went to a small (warm) cafe where we had some cake and watched a movie. Early bed time for me. From Dingboche 4400m we climbed slowly over the day to 4900m along a beautiful valley with a river from the Everest glacier. For the night we have a really nice small and warm tea-house. Outside temperature dropped to -8 in the night. And than it was the Day of the Days!
18.11.2019 we got up early. 3 of the polish guys flow back to Luklar because there was not feeling so well. The rest continued. Lunch in 5100m. From here 2 more stop the climb to base camp. The thin air and cold temperatures make it not so easy. The last 50% of the group kept walking the last 200m altitude, 3km distance. We had blue sky and sunshine. It was a Perfect day to reach Everest Base camp. At around 2pm local time we reached Mount Everest Base Camp in 5364m above Sea level. More than happy that we made it! we spent some time there and returned to our lunch place for the night. We went to bed early because the hardest part was still ahead of us. Next day we got up at 0400am to climb the Kala Patthar. -13C° and 400m steep climb to the top took everything from us. We could barely breath because of the thin cold air, our mussels telling us after 8 days hiking they are done. The last 50m altitude to the top, I climbed on hands and foot's. But we Did it! 5550m above sea-level with a stunning view of Mount Everest and the Himalaya in the Sunrise. The rest of the day we walked ca 25km back, down to ca 3900m. Two days later at midday we arrived back in Luklar, where we had a bit of a party with all the polish people. On the 21.11 we flow early from Luklar to a small town close by from where we had to take a 6 hour bus ride...when we finally arrived in Katmandu we bought a lot of sweat stuff and everyone of us had a nice long hot shower (it was time after 10 Days...) 22.11.2019
After two days relaxing in the hotel we drove with a bus to Chitwan National park where we stayed two days. We made nike hike trough the jungle, wooden boat ride and a safari tour. We saw a wild Rhino, Elephant and a view Deer's. We hoped to see a tiger but we where that lucky. After we drove to Pokahara (the Queenstown of Nepal) a nice city at a lake. Quit touristic so it was a bit more expansive. We made a small hike to the world peace Pagoda (temple on the mountain). I've been a bit unlucky and got food poisoned. So I spent the rest of my holiday in the bed or in the bathroom... on the second of December we returned to Katmandu had a last time nice Asian food and went to bed early because of the long flights, more for me than for Quinten. He is going to Myanmar. 03.12.2019 with nearly 2 hours delay I'm airborne and on the way back to New Zealand. It was amazing 4 weeks. We had so much different and delicious food. We have been lucky with the weather over the whole time and as always traveling with Quinten was more tan fun and a good time. But I have to say I'm also bit exhausted from the trip and happy to chill a few days here in Napier. 06.12.2019
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