The earth below my feet
moved. I was going down and could not see any soil below my feet. It was white
ice all around. I pressed my trekking shoes against the ice as hard as I could
and managed to gain my balance back. I took a moment to catch my breath and
then went to the edge of the cliff to see what was going on.
I was standing on Khumbu icefall at Everest base camp (5364m). A
thin moraine was 'sprinkled' on massive tower of ice. Ice at the edge was
melting slowly. Various trickles formed a small pond at ice tower's edge. Water
rushed down like a rapid stream along the edge of the ice tower. I prayed that
the ice tower does not start moving along the water stream, while I slowly made
my way away, towards my friends.
Base camp was the
place I wanted to be, for so long. But even before the feeling of achievement
sunk in, I wanted to start going back to our tea-house. Weather was getting
cloudy and gloomy. I had stayed back to greet the Indian army group attempting
the Everest summit (8848m) push but couldn't find them among the plethora of
orange tents in front of me.
It was 9th day of the trek. Himalayas is often described as treacherous and dangerous. Yet the
stupendous beauty of Himalayas and unmatched challenge of trek attract
thousands of trekkers, nature lovers and artists every year to base camp.
Whenever we took a quiet break to relish the beauty or gain back
our energy, our guide Pasang would jump in - 'Jam, Jam (Let's go in Nepali). It's
flat ahead.' and smile. We deciphered 'Nepali flat' meant gradual up and down,
with comparatively lower elevation gain. My lungs and hamstrings would have
done more work in one day than a year of climbing stairs in office. Everyone
was pushing their body and mind to the limit. Perhaps we got energy from the
massively beautiful landscape all around us.
We crossed numerous suspension
bridges in the trek route across the river. The bridges were like a roller
coaster ride – swinging in the middle and undulating at the edges. Standing in
the middle of one such bridge and staring at the amazing view of the river and
the valley below, I was almost blown away by blistering wind. Looking down at
the numerous gorges on the way, we marveled at the spectacular drop. One day,
we got to cross seven of those bridges!
We would start early each day and generally reach tea houses scheduled for the night stay, by 3pm. Lunch was often served early, sometimes at 10:30 am. Dal-Bhat was preferred lunch as it gives instant energy to keep climbing. As Pasang often said 'Dal-Bhat power, 24 hours. No shower!'
Out of total 13 days of trek, we climbed up for 9 days and
covered the same distance down in 4 days, running down like rapids of Dudh
Koshi river. On some days the climb up was so steep that I saw members of US
national sports team, trekking along with us as part of other group, panting.
Some people had rented horses, some others even fancied riding the ubiquitous
yak train and many of us had our trekking poles out to our rescue. Finishing
each day was like completing a new level of pokemon!
Toilet with flush, hot shower and oxygen become rarer as we
climbed up. The thin atmosphere at these altitude effects a lot of people. The
day we were preparing for our final climb, we came to know that a Chinese lady,
effected by AMS, never woke up from her sleep. A Nepalese cook at base camp
passed away and two more people died at Lukla airport landing accident. Despite
all these, the breath-taking view of clear skies during sunrise would make one
forget the aching limbs, sweaty body and sore feet and energize us as well to keep moving
forward.
The appeal of the landscape is like watching the Avatar movie
live. Beautiful rocks with fifty shades of green were everywhere, immersing one
in the scene. Clouds would reveal some of them and hide others, playing hide
and seek like a beautiful bride under veil. Waterfalls appeared out of nowhere,
doubling down the mystic scene. Live music of helicopters flying all around
completed the charm.
Going down felt like a long cherished massage to our legs, music
to our lungs and gave wings to our hearts. Little did we know of the
somersaults some of us would have, resulting in bloody nose and bruised knees.
For the time being I was gathering small rocks from base camp, as a present to
my friends. Would you like to have one?
----------------------------------------------
That is what attracted
most of our group members as well. Our group was a potpourri. Ravi has just
completed his MBA and wanted to see the world before joining corporate life.
Sachet was on a break from corporate life before joining his MBA class in USA.
Pushkal came back from a hectic world tour, to tick off base camp out of his
bucket list. Monica was just (un)happy to be with him, who was her whole world.
Doctor Chetan felt asking money from poor patients coming to his clinic was
like sucking blood out of them. So, he decided to join a private company who
were bugging him even during Everest trek. like sucking his blood. Prateek did
not want a private company to bug him and suck his blood, so he was starting on
his own company, learning how to suck blood from everyone. Not to forget our
charismatic yet shy guide Pasang. But the most enduring companion I had was
mother nature.
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