Let The Fun Begin

Let The Fun Begin
13 days of walking. 70 kilometres trekked in 78 hours. 9 days uphill,
4 days down. 8 suspension bridges and 10,000 Yaks.
Apettite loss, headaches, fatigue, sunburn, sleepless nights at -12
degrees, 42% less oxygen and a week without a shower.
Worth it?
Without a doubt.
My Intrepid Encounters trek to Mount. Everest Base Camp was something
I'll never forget.
We trekked for an average of 7 hours a day, staying on guest houses
and tea houses along the way. Considering we were 3 days away from the
nearest road the variety of food was pretty good. Eggs, chips, pizza
and the odd local dish or too were all on offer. The higher we went
however, the more expensive things got. A 13Rs. bottle of water
(that's about 11p) ended up costing 350Rs. (that's about £2.90!).
The last day of ascention was the hardest. A 9 hour day to base camp
and then back to Gurak Shep was the most physically demanding day. It
was however totally worth it. We saw an Everest expedition descend and
I enjoyed an ice cold beer and cigar on the rocks overlooking the base
camp tents.
The descent was fast and easy. We took less than half the time to get
down than we took to get up to 5400m.
Our guides: Santosh, Jhanbo, Rham and their leader Durje were
incredible. After a days walking we were ready to collapse. These guys
turned into waiters once we entered a guest house, taking orders,
serving food and making sure everyone was in good health.
Our first step back into civilization was Namche! A night of showers,
pool and a few too many drinks marked the end of the hard work. An
easy day followed and then the final sprint to the end.
Lulkla awaited us. The airport. The closet we had been to sea level
for 12 days. A night of extremely heavy drinking resulted in 3 hours
sleep and me getting on an aeroplane, hungover, wearing a sleeping
bag. That's right! I boarded the plane IN a sleeping bag.
After landing I struggled back to the Katmandu Guest House for food
and sleep.
A few hours later, hangover now cured, it was time to celebrate the
achievement again. A night out in Khatmandu consisted of several
'dance bars', 2 casinos and one of our pals riding a random strangers
motorbike! A quite surreal; but unforgettable night.
The evening after we went to yet another casino and lady luck was on
my side. 3000Rs. became 12000Rs. Win!
Our flight to Thailand is this afternoon. A new adventure awaits.

Intrepid Brochure: 'What is it they say about only living once? And
boy is this living!'

Dan (whilst in the Indian casino): It's like taking Ghandi from a baby

Brad