After completing my Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal, I have been asked a few questions by friends and through email sometimes. So I decided to make a post of FAQs. That way I can refer to this page for some questions at least.
Q1. How should I prepare for the trek?
This is my personal take but I feel it is better to be fit than just turn up. Having said that I didn’t had much time myself but I just walked for 45 minutes every day for two months. But I have trekked previously and used to be pretty active in sports up to a point in my life.
Q2. I am 30, 40, 50, 60 whatever, am I too old to do this trek?
I don’t think so. I saw people well into their 60s doing it and walking much better than me! And remember the oldest lady to climb Everest was 73 when she did it.
Q3. Should I do this as a first trek?
This was not my first trek. However I met people who did this successfully as a first trek. I personally feel do an easier one first and see if you enjoy it.
Q4. Did you use Diamox?
Personally no, I have never used Diamox on any of my treks. So I can’t really comment on this one.
Q5. Will I get Acute Mountain Sickness?
I have been lucky, I never got it. I have been thoroughly uncomfortable but I never had AMS. If I get it I will surely head down and not risk my health. At Gorek Shep I had head ache and I would wake up every 15 minutes at night because I would get breathless. But nothing worse than that.
By going slowly and taking plenty of fluids you increase your chances of not getting it. But then seek a doctor. I am not a professional to say anything beyond what is common wisdom.
Q6. Can I trek as a solo women?
When I say solo I mean me with a guide. I did and I never faced any problems. Only my fellow Indian trekkers would be a little surprised. But I went with an agency rather than picking up a guide randomly at Lukla. Recently Nepal government has been thinking of making it compulsory to trek with a guide or porter.
Q7. Can I drink the water locals drink?
I used chlorine tablets and used the same water as locals do. However bottled water is available throughout but the prices keep going up as we go higher.
Q8. Can I charge my gadgets?
Yes you can after paying extra to the lodge owner. The price goes up as we keep going higher.
Q9. What are the tea houses like?
The ones that I stayed at were basic but clean. Up to Namche Bazaar I had attached bathrooms. After that I used shared bathrooms. The food was good and people friendly.
Q 10. What about hot water?
You get it if you pay extra and you know by now, the prices increase as you go up!
Q11. Will my flight take off from Lukla?
No one wants to get stranded after getting back from the trek but Lukla flights are weather prone. They will not take off if the weather is bad. I was lucky I was not stuck but I know someone who was for 4 days.
Q12. What if I do not want to fly in to Lukla.
The nearest road head is Jiri which is roughly 8 days of trek from Lukla one way.
Q13. Will I see Everest from Base Camp?
No the base camp is too near to give you a view. However you can see the top of the Everest from Namche and when you are walking to the base camp. The best views are from Kala Patthar. The sun rises over the Everest so the best light over the peak is in the evening. But in the evenings many a times clouds will rule.
Q14. Is the view from Gokiyo Ri better?
I have not been to Gokiyo Ri but my guide has trekked to both the places and he says the views are very similar.
Q15. Can I buy a Sim Card in Nepal and will it work on the trek?
I used a Ncell sim which I could buy after showing my passport and giving a passport size photograph. It worked at most places except for Dingboche and Lobuje. It worked from the Base Camp itself. I didn’t try calling anyone from Kala Patthar as I was there at 5.00 am and anyone I would have called would have cursed me for waking them up!
Q16. What type of medical insurance should I take?
Take a better one than I had. Mine didn’t had air rescue. Make sure your’s covers helicopter evacuation.
Q17. How cold will it be?
I trekked in May 2012 and it was quite bearable. I would trek in a T-shirt most of the time. One day it was cold and I used fleece while walking too. I used a down jacket at night. But I get cold easily.
Q18. Do I carry a sleeping bag even though it is a tea house trek?
I did and I was happy for it. Only on one occasion I didn’t find the linen clean and I was happy to use by sleeping bag. After that at every stop I would use it. But I had a guide cum porter so weight was not that big a concern. That doesn’t mean my bag was heavy. My guide said my rucksack was lighter than his own!
Q19. Which trekking agency I go with?
I went with Above the Himalayas and they were recommended to me by an online travel forum called Indiamike. The cost of the trek will vary by the level of comforts you want. For example I stayed in a guest house instead of a 3 star hotel at Kathmandu. But there are many trekking agencies in Kathmandu.
Q20. Will you do it again?
I will certainly go back to Nepal but there are other treks to do. But I hope one day I will go back with my daughter if she wants to do it!
If I have missed out on something you would like to know, do drop me a line and I will try to answer that as well.
Please use these guidelines with caution. These are my personal experiences and I am no expert. More so if you need any medical advice please seek it from a qualified doctor.
Wow that’s a detailed and comprehensive FAQ with honest but useful answers. Thanks for this Mridula.
Thank you Rama.
I’ve bookmarked this. I have a feeling that it might come handy. Thank you š
Thank you Nevin š
Thats some great information. I hope someday I can use it to trek till the base Camp š
It is a journey that stays with you! I hope you will go Puru.
Thats the A to Z of trekking in the Himalayas. Great post.
Thank you so much!
That’s a kind of post I was waiting for ! š Thanks a lot.
Add 2 questions from my side.
1) What kind of travel gears you carried? torch, rope etc. and how many shoes, woolens, sunblock, energy bars etc
2) Expenses – air fare, local travel, food, accommodation etc. a rough break up is appreciated.
Nisha no rope required, torch only what I had in cell phone. One pair of shoes, heavy down jacket, a few chocolates for sure.
As far as I remember I spent 75K in all including y shopping but then I used to work!
Thanks Mridula for this blog entry. You have answered lots of questions that I wanted to ask. I would like to know more about the toilets, I hear they are not so good.
Sandra on most of the treks there are no toilets! At least on EBC on get what resembles a toilet!
Dear Mridula,
Wonderful Blog! My friend Evvie will trek to Base Camp in October of 2013. She is reaching beyond her limitations…she has had Breast Cancer twice and now lives with Parkinson’s Disease. I’ve included her story for you to read, quite remarkable. Your advise will help as she prepares for her journey. Many Thanks, Betsy
Aināt No Mountain High Enough
Evvie Dunkel Heilbrunn created a āBucket List,ā many years ago, at the top of her list was to visit Base Camp at Mt. Everest. Evvie is a two-time Breast Cancer survivor and was diagnosed with Parkinsonās Disease in 2009. Evvie is the mother of four; before being diagnosed with PD she was a successful litigation attorney in DC.
As Evvie put it, āIām 57 years old, have had breast cancer twice and live with Parkinsonās, not your poster child of health. Frankly, after I was diagnosed with breast cancer (the second time) I scratched Base Camp off my list and reconciled myself to the fact that it would never happen.ā
Some might call her journey a miracle; others would simply call it fate. In early 2012 Evvie reconnected with a friend from Upper Arlington High School (suburb of Columbus, Ohio), he too was going through chemotherapy. They quickly became āchemo buddies. āWhen you are going through chemo it can be a lonely journey. Unless youāve ābeen there-done thatā, you just donāt get it. Chemo was no walk in the park, having someone to share my thoughts with was my saving grace. My friend Greg became my sounding board and in the end he became my inspiration.ā Sadly Greg passed away in August 2012. āThe greatest gift I was given by Greg was a love of life. Even through the worst of times he had a smile on his face and a kind word to share.ā
As fate would have it, after Greg died Evvie met his brother and mentioned her bucket list, he told her about a group out of La Jolla that climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011, and among them were three Parkinsonās patients. He went on to say, āThe group is called Summit4StemCell, they are planning a trip to Base Camp in 2013.ā Evvie was speechless, is it possible that she could accomplish what she thought was now impossible. The next day Evvie contacted Summit4StemCell, they invited her to join them in climbing for a cause. Evvie will take the trek of a lifetime in October 2013, in doing so; she will check Base Camp off her bucket list.
In October of 2012 Evvie visited Scripps Center for Regenerative Medicine and had a chance to tour the Loring Lab and to meet some of the other folks who are going to Everest with her. The research focuses on non-embryonic stem cell research. She could hardly contain her excitement, āI saw up close the work that Drs. Loring and Houser are doing and it truly is amazing. I was filled with hope after visiting the lab. I honestly feel that someday there will be a treatment that can help me and others with Parkinsonās.ā
Summit4StemCell is led by Sherrie Gould, a nurse practitioner at the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center. As a member of the Summit4StemCell team Evvie is climbing for a cause, the goal is to inspire people with PD to move beyond their physical limitations.
Evvie is in the process of training for her trek, sometimes this can be overwhelming. She will be documenting her journey to share with others.
This is a story of survival and perseverance.
That is one inspiring story! Thank you so much for sharing it with me.
Excellent Mridula. This will help me a lot.
Thank you Bhaswaran!
Dear Mridula,
Nice to know that u are very happy in the entire trip to Nepal… Hopefully u will get to visit Nepal next time with ur pretty daughter. And these information will certainly help new expeditors.
Regards,
Ac Sherpa
My daughter is not even ten, it will take some time for us to go back but she goes on easy treks and enjoys it.
Finally I reach here to read your post about EBC. I was thinking about it to read since a last long but forgotten . I would ask few question about it but not in this post .
Thank you Yogi!