I have finally reached the day of departure with exciting anticipation. A pint of premium lager going down nicely whilst i think about the journey ahead.
All of this whilst everyone else around me is thinking more or less the same thing i reckon. I look around the airport and wonder what each person is doing and where they are going, what loved ones have they said goodbye too, What things have they forgotten to pack, what will the food be like on the flight, what gate am i meant to be going too, wheres the toilet?!

People watching is great entertainment with a pint and i kept my eyes peeled and with open ears listening intently. The usual complaints were dispensed, about the wonderful wet weather in the UK and how slow check in was but conversation soon turned turns to the journey ahead and i started to think about my own challenges lying ahead.

The trip with months of planning seemingly ages away had suddenly sprung on me. At first i had the usual butterflies in my stomach thinking about it all but when i thought about what the trip was for and what i would get out of the trip, my mind was at ease. I couldn't wait to get off the plane in Kathmandu and explore the city and find out what makes it tick.  Finding out what the local beer was high on my priorities and taking a look at the local food. However , I had to focus on the trek and a bout of Delhi belly would not be a great start to the journey so caution will need to be had when eating out. I think ill try the local food when i get back from the trek and if i'm ill at that point, well, ill make use of the wonderful airline toilets on the way back!!

As we finally departed a little after 6pm I settled into my window seat and kicked back with my trusty lonely planet guide for Himalayan trekking. Sitting next to me was a Nepalese man who seemed like an interesting bloke. He explained that he was from the Annapurna region of Nepal, west of Kathmandu. When he noticed the book I was reading and my trekking jacket I was wearing,  he realized I was going on some sort of trek or expedition. He explained that he was making a journey back to his home village where he was born deep in the mountains. His eyes definitely look like they had a story to tell so I mentioned that I was going on a trek to Everest Base camp and through the 3 passes and had completed some of  my trekking training in Brecon, mid Wales. His eyes lit up with a sort of lingering pain and he explained that he was a military man who completed most of his training in the Welsh mountains and that it was a tough area hiking. He knew Pen Y Fan and the other peaks in the area and he mentioned the blustery wind and the bad visibility as hard obstacles to overcome in that area. I certainly couldn't argue with that. There was me thinking, wow this guy is from the Himalayas and even he thinks Brecon is a little nuts and stated that he had huge respect for the Welsh mountains. I like this guy! When the air hostess came over to offer food and drink I ordered my daily staple, a beer and the Nepalese guy went for a nice glass of red and we toasted to having respect for the mountains in Wales and definitely in Nepal and also to a safe journey ahead.

As we came towards the end of the flight I took in the views below as we started to descend and checked the altitude on the flight graphics. It read 5635 meters which was roughly the same height as my final destination on the trek. Jesus that's high!
Flying over Istanbul, the gateway between Asia and Europe with the Bosphorus at its heart. Heading over this huge expanse of bright lights makes me want to visit this city and I added it to my to do list.

We landed with ease like the pilot had done it a million times and taxied to the terminal ready for a drink of water, i was parched and the flight was running late due to a head wind apparently. As we got closer I looked across the runway and a Hercules type aircraft was stationary and had a symbol I recognized instantly as the German Luftwaffe cross. As the side of the aircraft came into view it had 'Luftwaffe' written on the side. It looked very new hence the frowned expression on my face. A random site if ever i saw one.

I arrived in the Istanbul transit gate area and found a nice seat to write a little more about the journey. I had about 3 hours until my next flight so no rush i thought and i got typing away. After 20 or 30 minutes I had this feeling that something wasn't right but I didn't know what. I packed my laptop away and decided to see if my flight had popped up onto the screen so i could check what time the gate was open and when I could board. I looked and looked but couldn't see Kathmandu anywhere on the screen even going into the next days flights. I waited until the English translation for each destination came up but again nothing. I got my flight details out and it definitely read a 3 hour wait between my 2 flights and I had only just landed. Hmmmmm.
I checked my boarding pass for the next flight however and it read last boarding [23:55] and it was [01:00]. Bugger!!!!!!

Here i sit in the transfer area of Mumbai airport thinking about the last 24 hours or so. It's been a journey and a half already and I haven't even started my trek yet. The old saying
'Its not about the destination, it's about the journey' is definitely spot on.

So, to follow on from my last post, i had a little shock realizing that I had missed my connecting flight to Kathmandu and was therefore stranded in Istanbul for the time being at least. I am trying to recall my thought process at the time and i think it actually took me about 5-10 minutes to confirm and agree with myself that yes Andrew, you have been a dick! Well at least for an hour until i reached the Turkish Airlines helpdesk who put the blame entirely on themselves and agreed that the transfer time was way too short and they reassured me that they would organize another flight and sort me out with a hotel in Istanbul for the night. Sweet as!

As I sat waiting for them to sort out my tickets for the next day I concurred with myself that things could be a lot worse. I did actually think whilst flying over the city of Istanbul that I would have loved to spend a couple of days there. Be careful what you wish for, goes without saying.

It was [1:30] in the morning and creeping towards the deep depths of the early hours when about all but 1 of the Turkish Airline staff decided to have a party. I mean, i know i'm not in Istanbul very often but i'm not the Queen, i don't require a party. They settled down with cakes and some food that I didn't really know what it was but when they came over and provided me with a plate of the stuff I gladly accepted. I had some full fat Coke which was the first in a very long time but i thought what the heck? I'm going to be trekking for 20 days soon, go for it!

The only thing that disturbed my mind from the wonderful taste of the random doughy food and full fat coke was a bloke gesticulating and complaining or should i say shouting at the one remaining Turkish Airline staff about his flight which was actually my flight that he had missed. I didn't feel so bad when I realized I wasn't the only one. However i did feel for this bloke as he had 4 or 5 young children with him and he was concerned at being stuck in Istanbul for the night.

After 10 minutes of these guys shouting at one of the staff from the party who I can only describe as a 6ft 5' Turkish version of Arnold Schwarzenegger with a huge head of hair. The complaining guy soon lowered his tone of voice and things were more or less resolved. Good old Turkish airlines resorting to 'Get the big man' tactics. I was chuckling to myself in amusement.

After i had finished the food and drink i waited and waited for around 2 more hours for the staff to sort my tickets. Eventually at 4am local time i was told a shuttle bus would take me to the hotel they had sorted for me and went outside. I got chatting to the complaining dude and i just said to him 'Keep smiling'. In all fairness he saw the funny side of things and him and his family jumped into the same shuttle bus as i and went to the hotel. The relatively old driver casually drunk a coffee in a 1970's style glass mug with his co driver whilst smoking and chatting away. I couldn't understand a word they said but it sounded like a couple of lads chatting about the footy on a Friday night. It was entertaining for the trip, that's for sure.

I had this feeling that the hotel was going to be a cheap option but the hotel was as good as anything i had stayed in before. I was told I could have free brekkie and free lunch. The only downside was the location with the hotel being about an hour away from the center and therefore not much of an option to explore the following day.

When I eventually got to sleep it must have been around 5:30am.  I had decided to have a decent night's rest and lay in to prepare the body for the onslaught that was to come on the Everest trek so set my alarm for 11am. I drifted off with thoughts lingering on the huge mountainous expanse that was lying in wait for me and the footsteps I would be following.

At long last I left the city of Istanbul and was again on my way to Kathmandu. I had managed to squeeze in around 5 hours of sleep and lots of Turkish food at the hotel but was eager to get on the road again after the eventful previous day.
I couldn't leave Istanbul, however, without trying a beer or 2 and at the airport managed to have a couple of fine beers to wash down some snacks. It felt as though I had been away for ages and I hadn't even left Europe yet.

Eventually I said goodbye to my home continent as we flew over the rest of Turkey and into Iran, making our way past Pakistan and into India where I had to change in Mumbai and wait for my next flight to Kathmandu.

I had not managed a single wink of sleep on the 6 hour flight so I found a nice quiet spot for a sleep in a nice sun lounger type seat. I set 3 alarms as I was definitely not going to miss another flight and managed to get an hour or so of sleep.

My alarms must have awoken the entire airport let alone me as I jumped into action blurry eyed and in desperate need of coffee. The unfortunate lady next to me was wondering what the hell that annoying noise was. Whoopsy!

After quickly leaving the area the women who I obviously woke up gave me a sharp look of disdain. She must have been having a really good dream, that's all I could fathom. I hurriedly escaped to my boarding gate and got onto the plane pretty excited and ready to rock and roll and I couldn't resist yet another beer that was being offered on the flight.

After an hour or so I checked the map and we were fast approaching Nepal and Kathmandu. Looking out of the window on the plane I could see the huge mountainous vista in the distance. I have seen photos of the Himalaya before but nothing could have prepared me for that sight.

Huge. Gigantic. Bloody massive like!!

There were no words that would do it justice but it was clear I was a long way from the Brecon Beacons and thought what the hell have i got in store for myself Mr Moore.

My eyes were fixated on the snow covered mountains of the Himalaya until we started to descend into Kathmandu. You could see that parts of the city are still recovering from the 2 huge earthquakes and building after building looked like it had taken a real hammering. Luckily the runway of the Kathmandu Airport was still in one piece and we landed with a bang. I was feeling a little nervous at that stage. Not due to the bumpy landing or the fact i had a long trek ahead of me but nervous about
my baggage actually being in Kathmandu after the fun of the last few days.

After missing my flight to Kathmandu from Istanbul, my baggage must have gone with that flight anyway. It then would have had to come back to Istanbul in time to make my flight to Mumbai and in Mumbai it would then be transferred to a different airline, Jet Airways for the flight to Kathmandu. This was racing through my mind as I got my visa and passed through Nepalese customs, which took a while and headed for the baggage conveyors.

The place was a hive of almost organized chaos and I dived straight in once the Mumbai aisle came onto the screen as conveyor number 2. I waited for an age as everyone from my flight grabbed their baggage which ranged from Sony widescreen TV's to a King Size Duvet. 10 minutes passed, 20 minutes passed, 30 minutes passed, I was definitely starting to feel slightly concerned here. Another 15 minutes passed and I was looking around for the customer services desk when out of nowhere and all alone on the conveyor looking like a sad lost puppy was my trusty old backpack.

I almost shouted I was that relieved and gave a clenched fist pump just for the occasion. I was now ready to get on the trail and go trekking.

Kathmandu. A sprawling city of trekking shops, crazy drivers and also surprisingly some of the best food i've ever tasted. Before I get onto that, to start where I left off last time.

I was reunited with my trusty backpack and headed for the exit of the airport. Kathmandu Airport reminded me of the airport in Bangkok albeit a little smaller but with the same amount of people trying to get your attention for a taxi ride among other things. However a relatively tall bloke for Nepalese standards was hoisting a name I was a little familiar with high above his head, 'Mr Andrew Moore', and I made my way over.

He introduced himself as Shishir and he was to be my guide for the trek to Everest Base Camp. He is a local of Nepal and it turned out that he is also a Gurkha or Gorkha as the correct spelling goes where the Nepalese Gurkha's originate from.

It was great to meet the bloke who would be doing his best to get me to Everest Base Camp and he explained the finer details about logistics and places to see in Kathmandu and Nepal. We also discussed a few customs of Nepal and he mentioned one which was about shaking a Nepalese person's right hand. Why Not the left? Well all Nepalese eat with their right hand and the other...well you can guess what they use that one for. I liked his humor straight away and he is going to be good company over the next few weeks for sure on our way to Everest.

We made our way to my hotel and I was shown to my room where I dumped my things and headed out into the garden to meet the owner of the trekking company who had helped arrange and organize the trek, Tika. He also is a great guy who put me at ease straight away and he could see from my eyes that I was absolutely shattered.

I took a few sips from the coffee he gave and it gave me an immediate lift. The day had gotten away from me with the delay at the airport and the baggage delays and made a decision to have another day in Kathmandu then start the trek the day after. I couldn't wait to get started but realized I had barely had more than 6 hours sleep over the last few days and I needed to regain my energy to start the trek.

After finishing that delicious coffee I went for a walk around the vibrant trekkers hub of Thamel in Kathmandu for a bit of exploring time. It was a trekking heaven indeed with so many outdoor equipment stores and plenty of places for a coffee. Some outdoor stores were definitely official stores with legitimate items and others were somewhat copied versions and you could most certainly tell by the huge gulf in price for what looked like similar items.

The streets were a little nuts, again similar to Bangkok in that there were no road rules with cars coming from everywhere except that there is a lot of beeping, you keep to the left and somehow it works.

After an hour of checking out the place I needed some chill time and headed back  before I would head out with my guide Shishir for a few beers and get to know my guide a little more.

We hit the town, or should I say hit the road, as he gave me a ride on his motorbike and we rushed through the streets of Kathmandu, almost taking out a few people on the way, to one of his local haunts with some live local music and some grub.

The local beer they serve is called Gorkha beer ironically and we toasted to his Gorkha people and to a safe trek whilst also puffing on a Hookah pipe.

After a few of these wonderful and tasty beers it was time to hit the hay and my guide gave me a lift back to my hotel where it didn't take me long to get to sleep. I must have slept about 10 hours before I woke fresh as a daisy.

After some tasty breakfast in my hotel it was time to head out into Kathmandu and see the sights and sounds of this huge city. I had another guide for the day to show me around the city who was a lovely lady. We went to a few temples, the first being the Monkey temple which overlooks the city of Kathmandu but where the earthquake did some significant damage. The temple has Hindu and Buddhist sections to it where the 2 religions seem to coexist with each other but it was the Hindu Temple that took the full brunt of the quake.

The view from this temple showed that the city was still massively recovering and that it would take some time to get the place back to what it once was.

We visited the center of Kathmandu where the old Monarchy used to live. I say old Monarchy as their reign ended in 2008. There was a crazy massacre in 2001 committed by the crown prince of Nepal in which he slaughtered 10 people of his own family. I know families sometimes drive you crazy but whoa this was something else. Apparently he was not happy with one person and he went on a rampage.

Anyways I went around the damaged palace and the temples in that vicinity and felt quite touched by the Nepalese people who were just getting on with things without a hint of complaining after the events of the last year or so.

Towards the end of the day we made our way to a sacred temple next to the city's main river which is a tributary of the Ganges river, sacred in the Hindu religion. As me and my guide went in there were 5 bodies laying waiting to be cremated. My guide explained that as the river was sacred, as soon as a Hindu dies they get brought to this place and dipped into the river then cremated in full view of the public with the ashes then pushed into the river.

It was a little surreal seeing 5 dead people in plain sight but after thinking about it, it was also a privilege to see these people in the last moments of their existence and although strange from a western perspective to see a funeral done this way, I just watched and took it all in.

When the ceremony was over my guide asked what I thought about that experience. I explained the way funerals were done back home in terms of burials and cremations albeit done differently and she thought our customs were strange, all a matter of perspective I suppose.

We made our way back to the hotel and after an hour of sorting out my gear for the trek we went out for some more food and drinks with my trekking guide, no motorbike this time. It was time to try a new beer called 'Everest' funny enough and we again toasted to a successful trek whilst watching some traditional Nepalese dancing where even my guide jumped in and got involved.

It's definitely not line dancing that's for sure but it was awesome. I headed back for an early night to finish packing and to focus ahead.

The morning would be the start of my journey to Everest base camp after a short flight to the base of the mountains with a nice early 6am flight. Let's make sure we make this flight ehh...

Finally it was the first day of my trek. After missing flights, having plenty of beers and meeting some really fantastic people whilst also seeing some amazing places it was time to get down to the reason for my visit to Nepal, the trek to Everest Base camp.

I woke up at around 5am to grab a shower and sort my backpack for the last time. We were due to fly out at [06:15] to the Notorious Tenzing Hilary airport in Lukla. I say notorious as it's labeled as the most dangerous airport in the world due to the number of  incidents that have occurred at the airport. The main cause of this was the frequent bad weather that surrounds the area of Lukla especially in the winter. My guide met me at the Hotel and we quickly made our way to the airport and I was raring to go although I needed a coffee to get rid of the cobwebs from the early rise from bed.

We dumped our bags at the check in desk which was scarily quick and we waited for the go ahead for the flight. Shishir, my guide, called ahead to Lukla to check the forecast around [06:00] and all was fine. We were given the thumbs up from the Tara (Yeti) airways flight crew consisting of 1 attendant, and 2 pilots and off we went into the mountains.

The aircraft was a 12 seater place and my guide recommended that I sit on the left for the best view which I duly did and he wasn't wrong by the way. As we were sitting on the plane with the Pilot doing the pre-flight checks I was thinking of the 'Most dangerous airport in the world' tag that Lukla had. Although I should have been a little on edge or bricked it as we say at home, I felt relatively calm. It must be the excitement of finally starting my trek that was keeping my brain occupied i think.

We left the runway after the noisy engines spun into action as it was a twin propeller plane and took off heading directly to the lower end of the Himalaya region of Nepal. I know I was in awe of the Himalayas when I first arrived in Kathmandu but this was something else. As we were only just over 5000 meters altitude I had the best seat in the house watching the sun rise beyond the mountains as if the mountains themselves woke up to say good morning.

As we started to approach Lukla area it was clear that the weather was not good at all and
visibility soon became zero as we descended into the valley and this was a little unnerving. The pilot wasn't having any of this and instead took the decision to make for an airstrip instead in the other valley where the weather was still fine. We landed on the dirt track with a bump and a half and my guide tapped me on the shoulder with a wide eyed expression that definitely said 'That was interesting'.

We were told to just wait until the pilot was happy to attempt a landing in Lukla and took to wandering in the tiny settlement next to the airstrip. It reminded me of the sort of air strip where you would have some sort of drug baron or James Bond bad guy hiding out with quite a number of dodgy looking guards dressed in blue camouflage gear . Still, I had some spare time so I wandered around saying 'Namaste'(a Nepalese greeting) to some of the locals who were surprised to see a plane land. It must be a rare occasion to visit this place.
I got chatting to 2 Dutch guys who were sitting at the rear of the plane and we discussed the landing and if we were going to make Lukla when out of nowhere came a shout from the pilot who had just received a phone call that there was some clear air and to go for it. We all hurriedly entered the plane and we soon took off not long after as we only just had enough runway to take off. Jesus!

As we entered the Lukla valley it was definitely clearer now and the pilot dropped us in on the clifftop runway and he absolutely nailed it. I and a few others clapped with excitement and probably also just to be happy to still be breathing.

So here we were, Lukla the start of the Everest Base camp trek. We met my porter who would be carrying my trusty rucksack and he seemed pretty pleased that mine was not that heavy at all. He spoke very good English which is common for the guides but unusual for the porters and just like my guide he had a great sense of humor.

We were now at 2800 meters and it was significantly colder than Kathmandu and I soon opened the rucksack for my warm hat. We headed for brekkie at one of the lodges in the village. I was starving and I almost inhaled the food whilst also helping myself to a couple of cups of coffee before we headed off.

The target for today was to head to a village called Phakding where we would be staying the night and the first day was a relatively easy day of ups and downs on the trail. It was only around a 6km walk but took around 2 and 1/2 hours of decent pace to get there. Among the way we passed donkey train after donkey train coming down from the higher passes and had to cross a rickety looking suspension bridge over a deep ravine, it reminded me of something out of an Indiana Jones movie and I couldn't help but go selfie mad on this bridge.

As i was walking and getting my lungs used to the altitude i got thinking about the Sherpa life in these mountains. Although a simple life, it is a tough and hard life and I could see the difficult years and the mileage etched on the faces of many of the residents of the villages. They all happily conversed though and were pleased at my attempts at Nepalese lingo when I said Namaste. The Khumbu region which is the region from Lukla all the way to Everest is apparently the richest in Nepal due to the trekking tourism and you could definitely see that the villages were getting back on their feet after the earthquake damage, even more so than Kathmandu.

We made our way along the side of the mountain until at last we reached Phakding. A small village which is nestled next to a glacial river. A torrent of white water meandering through the valley like a giant snake. As we approached the village I could hear the soothing sound of the water among the racket of hammer on wood where a few builders were repairing a house.

It was fair to say that my senses  were open and I was loving the trek already. It had only been a few hours hiking but even now I understand the draw to a place like this. I know there will be tough times on this trek where I will be in pain and wanting to stop but there is something special here that will drive me on, I'm sure of that.

As the day moved towards the end we made it to our lodgings for the night, a place called 'Beer Garden Lodge'. I do like a good beer garden as you may well know and although basic as most accommodation is in the mountains, it seemed cool enough!

The host met me with a huge smile and the hands clasped together Namaste greeting and showed us into the main lodge room where a log fire was burning away to keep our hands warm whilst we had the traditional warm tea.

Not long after, an icy cold beer followed and a few games of snooker in the local reggae bar which was definitely a random surprise. I do like a good Bob Marley song but I think it's the only music they have as it was on repeat and although i love Buffalo Soldier, hearing it 3 times in an hour was enough for me and after some dinner i headed off to catch some rest before a long day of trekking ahead to the next target, Namche Bazaar.

I've always wondered what the mountains looked like on a crisp clear sky in the Himalayas at sunrise. I awoke to silence at around 7am and opened the curtains to the most amazing sight. The mountains around Phakding were covered in a beautiful layer of snow.

Fortunately the weather had cleared overnight and the visuals were out of this world. I felt like an excited schoolboy, got out my camera and went snapping away until I felt that I had an entire photo album of this one mountain. I needed a shower but no hot water was available and it was so chilly that a cold shower was a no go at this point. I had heard what a friend would call a Glasgow shower. I'm sure you can work out what that means but the long and short of it is to use wet wipes!

I headed down for some breakfast and loaded up for what I was told  would be a bit of a toughie today on the trek. My guide told me about the places we would be visiting and that there would be an elevation change from 2600 to 3400 meters and to reach Namche Bazaar the focal point for any trek in the Sagarmatha region of Nepal. Sagarmatha being the national park where Mt Everest lies.

I had finished packing the night before and was eager to get started and we began at a steady place. However before long the photographer inside  of me once again made itself known and shot everything from a local farmers spinach patch near the Dudh Kosi or 'Milky' river in English to the high peak of Kongde Ri reaching so high into the sky my neck was beginning to creak.

I couldn't help but take photo after photo of the mountains. It was unbelievably clear and we felt lucky to have such amazing views. The sun was now shining on the western slopes which lit up those mountains enough to see the summits of Kongde Ri and Karyolung both reaching heights of over 6000 meters. It was mad at this point to think that anything could be any higher than the mountains I could see but Mt Everest was almost 3000m more than the mountains that I could see and that thought stayed with me for most of the morning as I contemplated what was lying in wait for me.

Along the trail I caught up with one of the Dutch guys from the flight. We both encouraged each other to get to Namche as we knew it was a tough day and one of the toughest days of the trek and used the Irish bar in Namche as a motivation.

The paths once again went winding along the river with ups and downs and also as we did the first day, we came across another suspension bridge. I began to walk across without thinking of the drop to the torrent of water below until I was about half way across. I looked ahead and another donkey train was making its way across the bridge. Usually this would be a piece of cake but the suspension bridge was barely a meter wide.

My guide had warned me at the beginning of the trek to watch out for these donkeys as they can give a brutal kick and had occurred many times. I was thinking, absolutely brilliant.

Me and the donkey were pretty much playing chicken on a suspension bridge and if they decided that they didn't like the look of me, I would have to do something. Bail into the river or risk getting crushed. I tried to be as calm as possible and was thinking, these were only donkeys, chill out. It was difficult when some of them were obviously not too happy and I pushed myself as far to the left as possible, leaning over into the river 20 or 30 feet below. I did this for about 10-15 more donkeys and was glad to make it across.

Another funny moment at that time was where another donkey train was lying in wait and I climbed on top of a boulder as the donkeys went slowly but surely and passed. One of the donkeys at the front end however was not liking this at all and decided to do a U turn and hit the rest of the donkey train head on. I couldn't help but laugh as the Nepalese dude trying to organize this donkey train was shouting some random Nepalese and you could hear in his voice that he was growing impatient.

Once we watched this little event occur and entertain us we headed on as the path began to climb.

We made it to the Hilary suspension bridge, named after of course, the legendary Sir Edmund Hilary, the joint first person to reach the summit of Everest with Tenzing Norgay, a local of the Sagarmatha region.

It was actually a double bridge separated by 30 feet in elevation as the old bridge was severely damaged and we decided the best option would be to go higher and walk across the relatively new bridge. Now this was a suspension bridge alright!

It towered over the river around maybe 150 feet high and shook from side to side. The wire cable that was supporting it looked pretty good to me and I started to walk out into the middle of the bridge. Looking down was definitely unnerving but I was across in no time at all. I waited for 5 minutes to catch my breath as a really steep section of the trail lay just ahead.

It was now 2 hours of uphill trekking with a significant incline. I set off whilst keeping my mind positive even though my lungs were soon into overdrive and I could feel the lactic acid having a party in my legs. I kept looking at targets like a tree stump or a large boulder and soon looked at my altimeter as I was gaining altitude. I was soon at 3100 and almost halfway up this steep section.

 However it soon became actually dirt after the donkeys had been on this part of the trek not long before and for some reason it was energy sapping. I was soon caught up by my guide and porter as I was encouraged to 'Bistari'. Slow down in Nepalese.

Taking the advice I soon took my time taking more pictures of the passes and frozen waterfalls that were on the other side of the river and those towered above me. I was soon chatting to my guide about climbing the waterfalls with an ice ax and crampons and he mentioned that there was a lot of ice climbing in that area at this time of year. It's something I'll definitely take a look at someday for sure.

After 30 minutes of long deep breathing and pushing myself harder and harder we reached the checkpoint of Namche Bazaar. It had taken over 6 hours of hiking with a large portion uphill to reach this point and it was a killer. I felt pretty good about things though knowing that even on only the second day of the trek I had completed one of the most difficult parts and I was chuffed to beans about that.

After the guy at the checkpoint let me in, somewhat surprisingly so, we arrived in Namche and headed for the Lodge for the night called the Nest. It was literally one of the first lodges that we came upon too and it overlooked the entire valley 800 meters below and definitely living up to its name as the Nest.

After a warm cup of ginger tea and some food, I made my way out into Namche purchasing another key tool for the trek, Toilet Paper.

I bumped into a couple of other trekkers including a German trio who had just come down from the high passes and had a story to tell as the German woman had an interesting time at Everest Base camp suffering from Altitude sickness. It sounded to me like Cerebral Edema which was a swelling of the brain as her partner mentioned that she was in a drunk state and couldn't even remember her family or where she was.

It made me think about the journey ahead and to take it slow to avoid these types of altitude problems. There was also a Lithuanian guy who had been traveling for 18 months already and he was a funny character and was also heading up to Everest.

After some time we did make it to a bar albeit not the Irish bar as unbelievably it was closed. We soon put the world to rights discussing philosophy and religion and chatted away into the night having a few Tuborg beers to chill with. After a fine night of merriment we all said our farewells and headed for bed and I made my way to my warm and cozy lodge.

As I approached the lodge it was super chilly, probably into the region of -10 or maybe even less. I tried to open the entrance to my lodge, however to my cold mind, it was padlocked. Bugger I thought, it was only 10:15pm!! I made a little noise to try and get someone to let me in but had no response for 20 minutes or so. I decided to try and find an alternative entrance but no doors or windows were open at the back and I was thinking oh dear it's going to be a long night.

I decided to see if I could break in via a window and went around the entire Lodge to see if any were open. One side was all closed, so was the back of the lodge. Luckily I came across a window which was not locked so I pulled it aside and jumped through the landing with a huge smile on my face into the warm.

I made it to my room and started thinking about the day. One thing that really stuck with me before I went off to sleep was something Steven, one of the German groups I met had said to me. A lovely metaphor, I thought, about the journey of life.

'A trek is like life. First, imagine your life as a rucksack with all of your possessions. After some time you learn that you don't need everything in that rucksack and you only keep the things you really need. On the trek you go up and you go down along the entire route. You know you will have pain at some point but you deal with it and learn. You resolve the problems you have when you come across them, move on and finally, every journey has its end'.

My journey however was only just getting started.

Today was an acclimatization day, to enable my body to get used to the high altitude before we headed any higher. However that still didn't mean i could kick back and put my feet up with a few cold beers.

After a hearty breakfast and filling my guide and porter in on how i actually got into the lodge the previous night having been locked out in which they thoroughly enjoyed, we headed out for a 'little hike' to the viewpoints overlooking Namche Bazaar.

The little hike turned out to be not so little at all. Firstly we headed to the Tenzing Norgay statue viewpoint via the narrow and steep alleys of Namche village saying the local greeting 'Namaste' to anyone that was not inside keeping warm.

I was in good spirits after the previous day and was feeling eager to get some more fresh mountain air although the legs were definitely feeling it from the previous day's exploits. As we climbed past the edge of Namche and reached the first viewpoint, we came to a site I will never forget. The huge peak of Mt Everest.

Seeing the highest mountain on earth for the very first time was awe inspiring to say the least and it was perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky whilst looking towards Mt Everest and although it was a long way ahead, it was awesome to see the mountain and the target for the next week or so.

It was also ironic that my first look at this mountain was next to the Tenzing Norgay statue who was the joint first climber with Sir Edmund Hilary to make a successful ascent of Mt Everest.
I was both honored and proud to be following in their famous footsteps albeit to Everest Base Camp. You could also see the benefits that mountaineering had brought to this part of the world. Sir Edmund Hilary especially did so much for this area and his legacy lives on through the school, hospital and airport that are named after him.

However one thing I've noticed is that by raising the publicity of The Khumbu region and the Himalaya as a whole he improved so many peoples lives in so many different ways and the world definitely needs more blokes like him.

After taking what seemed like hundreds of photos of Mt Everest and some of the surrounding mountains including Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam we headed back to the top of Namche village where i could see this path snake all the way to the top of the mountain and at that point a dog started to follow us.

My guide mentioned that we were now going to climb an additional 400 meters roughly in elevation to really take my time and to take a breather every 2 or 3 minutes. I was leaning towards the 2 minute mark if i'm honest and for a 'Little hike' it was a bit of a killer.

I took the opportunity however whilst having these breaks every 2 minutes to take heaps of photos of Namche from above. It was a pretty cool view from here also taking in Kongde Ri which we had passed the previous day.

As we got closer to the top I spotted another air strip which was even shorter than the one I landed in on the first day. A part of me was thinking, we could have been dropped here instead although the adventure so far was worth the tough trekking.

A few people came down from the top of this hill with what looked like MDF plasterboard being carried on their head. I wanted to give them a hand but I'd probably end up killing myself at this altitude carrying those things.

Along the top of this ridge I also noticed large birds of prey circling overhead. They looked big enough to swoop down and grab my porter. My guide told me they were the Himalayan Eagles and they were majestic and seemed to just glide through the mountain valley with ease.

I think I took so many pictures my camera was almost smoking.

We carried on to the Everest view Hotel and reached the target altitude of 3880 meters. The dog that had followed us from Namche finally gave up as we entered this plush hotel and what looked like an expensive establishment. I enjoyed a coffee whilst taking in the mountain views and was thinking that I could never get bored of this.

Sitting there I could feel a cold breeze coming from the south valley and sensed the weather was changing. At that point and out of nowhere came the weather. Visibility went from being the most amazing view in the world to a misty mountain wilderness and the temperature dropped immediately.

We decided this was the time to make a move and we made a fast descent off the mountain we had hiked up earlier in the day, reaching Namche in about 30 minutes.

As we got just outside of Namche, we headed to the Sherpa and mountaineering museum. It was a little like a Sherpa version of St Fagans, Cardiff(Welsh museum of life for anyone who doesn't know) in which they showcased the way Sherpa life was before the mountaineering generation came along and I was massively intrigued.

After having a relaxing time reading and taking it all in, I also checked out the other section of the museum which was all about the famous Sherpa Climbers and Sir Edmund Hilary. You could certainly see that Hilary was treated like a god in these parts and numerous newspaper articles and items were from his climbing days as well as some of the other projects he was involved in.

Although the museum was great it was time to head back to the lodge for a hot shower and some food and couldn't resist a pasta dish to get the energy levels up for the following day where we would be looking at a long hike down 300 meters and then up 600 meters to Tengboche Monastery and beyond.

An early night was in order and lights were out at 8:30pm. As I was nodding off to sleep my thoughts centered on the day's amazing panoramas of the huge mountains and of the final target, the gigantic prize, Everest.

I woke up to news that there had been an earthquake during the night. I had wondered what had woken me up during the night and apparently it was an aftershock of 4.5 on the Richter scale. Not huge by any means but the epicenter once again occurred in Gorkha where the massive quake had occurred earlier last year. The local village was all but destroyed last year so my guide told me that in his hometown, there would have been no buildings affected as none were yet rebuilt.

Although Nepal is relatively safe there is obviously no guarantee that a quake will not occur during a visit here as aftershocks are common for years after big earthquakes. However I also feel that if everyone avoided places that had earthquakes no one would visit New Zealand, USA, Japan or even some places in Europe. I feel that with Nepal being such an interesting and amazing country to visit, avoiding it because of the recent quakes would be a travesty.

As I ate my breakfast of scrambled eggs and potatoes I sat not just digesting my food but the news of the quake. However it was not something I could dwell on and had to crack on with the next part of my journey.

We again made our way past the cracked 'Stupa', a Buddhist statue with the Buddha eyes keeping an eye on things in Namche. This for some reason made me think of the George Orwell Book/Movie 1984. In no way are they the same of course as the Buddha eyes are a positive thing, but it did appear like big brother was watching.

We once more made our way to the top of Namche with the morning sun hitting our faces for the first time and provided some well needed warmth after the misty and cold weather during the night. It was once again a fantastic morning of views with the snow capped peaks of the surrounding mountains standing tall like giants in the morning breeze. Once again we came upon the top of Namche with Everest appearing on the Horizon once more. I will never get fed up with that view!

We had to descend once more to the river valley so another descent of 350 meters. I was surprised that my legs were feeling good after a tough couple of days but still took my time getting down this pretty steep part of the trail. After the first half hour we could hear the noise of someone approaching from behind us, over the ridge a local guy standing tall upon his trusty horse as he galloped towards us looking like a Nepalese version of a cowboy. He came so close to the edge of the trail which dropped 100's of feet below and I was nervous just watching him but he held it together and rode into the distance. What an idea though, use a horse instead right?!

We reached the bottom of the trail taking in the views and grabbing a bite to eat before we attempted the 600 meter steep climb that lay ahead. I felt full of energy at this and told my guide and porter that I would crack on. I again got into my breathing and it felt a lot easier than when we took the steep trail to Namche and this was higher altitude so my body was making some sort of progress with the height at least.

I bumped into a New Zealand guy who had been here a number of times before. He offered some invaluable advice about altitude and on how to stop my water pack from freezing at night. Blow into it before you go to sleep. Why hadn't I thought of that before !I'll be using that advice for sure as the days are only going to get colder the higher we ascend. After an hour or so of lung busting walking we reached the top and took a breather before heading to Tengboche Monastery.

It was off season so only a handful of Buddhist monks live here this time of year but it was a pretty cool location atop a mountain although the wind was biting in this exposed position. We soon moved on after a few pics and a walk around the place and bumped into a girl who seemed pretty concerned. Her partner was not doing so well and was at the bottom of the hill we were about to descend. Apparently one of the locals had gone down with a horse to pick him up and take him to the top. Stolen my idea, I was thinking. On the way down I saw him getting carried up the hill atop the horse and he looked terrible and could hardly stay on the horse. His mate who was walking up behind mentioned that he had a bad spot of the Delhi belly with food poisoning and was really struggling. Poor bloke, this was however a reminder for me to steer clear of certain foods like the local meat. Just vegetables, rice and pasta for me until I reach Base camp at least.

We reached a village lying at 3800 meters as once again the bad weather came in and all crowded around the log fire in the lodge we were to stay at for the night. Once again it was time for an early night after some delicious vegetables and rice.

Let's hope for no more aftershocks tonight.

As I was up really early, I took the opportunity to catch the sunrise. After putting on as many layers as possible as it was around -10 in my room let alone outside, i headed to the dining room and it was complete silence. Everyone else was asleep as it was only 6:45am. I took a step outside as my feet crunched on the fresh snow that had fallen overnight. The sky was as clear as ever in the mornings and I watched the sun rise slowly but surely, hitting the tops of the peaks as if a giant torch had been switched on.

I watched this happen as the light eventually hit the slopes of Mt Everest and Lhotse. It was unbelievably peaceful as I took in the sublime views. Eventually the family running the lodge awoke another hour or so later as they lit the metal oven in the dining room to provide some much needed warmth. My toes and my fingers were freezing. This was definitely the coldest I had been so far in Nepal and it was absolute heaven as the heat finally came through as I thawed out my extremities.

As we were having a little breakfast 3 blokes came in looking absolutely freezing so we sat them next to the metal oven to warm them up. It seemed that one of their group had a difficult night suffering with the altitude and also had caught a virus to make things severely worse. They were heading to Everest Base camp but clearly this man's journey was over for now as they left and descended back to Namche. It reminded me how key it was to keep well in these mountains and to keep eating good and healthy food.

We soon packed and were off as we went in search of the sunlight which was slowly but surely making its way down the slopes of the mountains. When the sunlight finally hit our faces it was an immense relief as my sensitive nose was numb. Whilst my nose defrosted we continued up into the Valley climbing higher again with our target for today being Dingboche.

We passed another casualty of the earthquake, another bridge which had completely collapsed. Another had been put in its place however as we crossed the almost frozen river and made our way up and down the winding trail once more.

We passed a few of the local villages where life was quiet as it was the off season as far as trekking was concerned. My guide mentioned that he had never seen the trails so clear and I have to be honest I loved the sense of being in the middle of nowhere on my own. In peak season these trails become a highway of trekkers and mountaineers. Part of me was certainly yearning for some company in the lodges  but I would think finding a balance between the trails being busy and having someone to share a beer with in the lodges would be great.

The elevation was certainly noticeable as it felt like I needed to take an extra breath than normal just to take a step forward. This was common however but i wasn't feeling any signs of altitude sickness so far luckily. The altitude of 4000 meters is usually when people start suffering with symptoms of altitude sickness so it was a good sign and it gave me a little confidence going forward.We finally made it to our lodge in Dingboche which lies at 4300 meters and I chilled out with a lovely coffee whilst i chatted to a couple of other trekkers who i had met in Namche. After some grub and more trekking stories whilst crowding around the metal oven which was being fueled by Yak poo which was an interesting idea, the sun was beginning to get lower.

I made my way outside as Lhotse changed from a blinding white from the snow on the peak into a dark shade of red. What a beautiful end to a beautiful day.

I certainly won't be forgetting the sunset and sunrise from today that's for sure.

Part 1

It was time to leave after another acclimatization day where we had made it to 4700 meters and then slept again at 4300 meters. Whilst making our way to the target height of that day, we passed prayer flag after prayer flag blowing in the wind. I had seen these throughout my journey. According to some lamas(e.g. Dalai Lama) prayer flags date back thousands of years to the Bon tradition of pre Buddhist Tibet. Shamanistic Bonpo priests used primary colored plain cloth flags in healing ceremonies. Each color corresponded to a different primary element - earth, water, fire, air and space – the fundamental building blocks of both our physical bodies and of our environment. By placing these prayer flags outdoors and placing them in certain ways their sacred mantras are imprinted on the wind, generating peace and good wishes.

I was therefore happy to be passing by these flags whilst also hoping that they were passing on their peace and best wishes to me in some form, at least that's what I was hoping.

Leaving Dingboche I was in good spirits and wished an Australian couple farewell who had decided to use the spare day to acclimatize. They had been suffering a little with the altitude and their guide thought it was a good idea to adjust for another day. Wise decision.

We once again followed the river whilst the biting wind gnawed at my nose as it felt as though it could fall off at any stage. I used a technique where I wrapped my head band/buff leaving it just covering my nose with my mouth free to breath. Looks ridiculous but works a treat. Well I've still got my nose, so sweet.

We reached a spot just along from Dingboche and next to the river where my guide was recalling when he was in almost the exact same spot when the earthquake had struck. He recalled that the visibility was almost zero but that the ground started shaking and he could hear the sound of rockfalls and avalanches coming down on both sides and not knowing if they were going to hit. That must have been super scary for sure and although I felt safe, it still made me a little more aware of the surroundings and where to go if a quake did strike.

Reaching the top of the ridge, we had made it to memory hill where cairns were built as memorials for people who had lost their lives on Everest and the surrounding mountains. I recognised a few names who were lost in the 1996 disaster on Everest and it was certainly a somber moment. The one thing that shocked me was the sheer number of memorial cairns on the hill and it reminded me that although they can be beautiful and majestic at times, the mountains can also be some of the most dangerous places on earth.

One quote from a mountaineer who lost his life on Mt Annapurna but was regarded by many as the hero of the 1996 disaster in Everest was Anatoli Boukreev. His quote - 'Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion'.

To some people, although the danger is apparent and real, they cannot let go of the mountains and the urge to climb or walk, for many reasons. I for one can understand the magic of this place that's for sure but memory hill definitely left its mark on me.

We eventually reached our target for the night, Leboche which lies just at the mouth of the Khumbu glacier where at the other end lies Everest Base Camp. The weather was starting to come in and we therefore couldn't see the base camp but Mt Nuptse which lies just to the left of Everest, this great peak was still standing tall and visible at 7861 meters. I thought my hiking was done for the day but my guide recommended that we hike up a little more to the 'Hike tall, sleep low' strategy which we had followed on the previous days of the trek. Taking in breath after breath was really difficult at this stage as Lobuche was 4900 meters and although still no headaches,  my lungs were working hard. On this little hike we made it to the magic number of 5000 meters and it gave me huge confidence for the following day.

Although the journey had been an amazing one, with many moments of fun and laughter, it was almost time to get down to business and reach my destination of Everest Base Camp.  When I was typing this  snow was falling heavily outside. This certainly made me feel the next day's trek would be a toughie to say the least.

Let's hope those prayer flags worked ehh

Part 2

I woke up around 6am with a nervous twinge in my stomach. I looked outside to see a blanket of white covering the hills and mountains around Lobuche. The views were out of this world and I just stood and looked out of my window taking in the amazing mountainous views for what seemed like ages and it was as if time stood still as I gazed outside. I have seen some amazing mountain views over the last couple of weeks but this was one of the best for sure.

After finally taking my eyes away from the views outside I put on my hiking clothes and went into the dining room for my daily omelet and toast. I couldn't wait to get on the trail and almost inhaled my brekkie. We left around 7:15 am and headed into the snow and up and up. It was going to be a long day as we had a 2 hour hike uphill to Gorekshep then another 2 hour uphill hike to base camp. It would then be another 2 hours back to Gorak Shep where we would be spending the night.

After an hour of lung busting hiking my guts were in tatters. I had managed to steer clear of the Delhi belly for almost all of my trip but typically on the hardest day of all it hit me with a vengeance. I managed to find a really lovely spot next to a large boulder to squat over and it was absolute bliss. I won't go into too much detail but will say even that episode was a journey in its own right. Apologies if you're eating whilst reading this.

After letting nature take its course, I caught up with my guide and porter. I felt so lethargic at this stage and took to eating a mars bar for some energy and drank lots of water to wash it down. We had to keep moving as time was ticking with the weather holding for now but likely to turn on us later in the afternoon.

We pressed on and climbed up and up then descended and again ascended for what seemed like ages. The land between lobuche and Gorekshep seemed like really hard work as it went up and down alot. After 8 days of hiking my legs were starting to feel it too. We eventually made it to Gorak Shep just over 2 hours after leaving Lobuche. We took this time to take on some grub before making our attempt on Everest Base Camp and once our bellies were full we made our way towards the Khumbu Glacier and towards Everest.

This was my first time at this sort of altitude and it's unbelievable how difficult it is to complete what would be the easiest of tasks lower down. Every step was a real effort and I now understand the challenge of high altitude trekking.

We reached a ridge overlooking the glacier with the huge presence of Pumori overlooking every step. It was this mountain that unleashed a huge avalanche on Everest Base Camp when the earthquake struck resulting in the loss of many lives and as i got closer to base camp this was certainly playing on my mind, especially as snow covered the entire mountain and avalanches were always a constant risk.

I could finally see Everest Base Camp getting closer and closer. At this stage my walking turned into more of a crawling speed as my lungs were asking for more air. I checked my altimeter and I was actually above base camp altitude wise and hit the 5400 meter mark. I could see the Khumbu icefall which is the first and normally challenging part of the Everest summit attempt. I didn't realize it went so high. That was just the start of the journey for many and seemed an unbelievable obstacle to overcome and had a reputation as one of the most dangerous parts of the summit attempt, especially once the sun hits the ice.

Eventually after another hour of crawling speed I made my way onto the glacier watching every step. I could see Base camp in the center of the glacier with Nuptse and Everest towering above me.

After 8 days of hiking, climbing more than 3000 meters in elevation and freezing my nuts off I reached Everest Base Camp. I couldn't help but feel emotional at this stage and smiled with a tear in my eye as I high fived my guide and my porter. It had been one heck of a journey for me and I was just happy to have made it and more important that I had not had any bad altitude sickness.

I had wanted to come to this place ever since I was a young child and always felt that my body and lungs couldn't handle it. I was glad to prove myself wrong and realized that I could actually function at altitude in the depths of winter in one of the coldest parts of the planet. I felt immensely proud.

As I gathered my thoughts and took in the moment, the Dutch guy from my flight at the beginning of my trek also made it. He was very emotional as I congratulated him. He told me he had been ill for 3 days with altitude issues and was just glad to make it. Again this reminded me how lucky I had been in relation to being ill.

I soon got out my hip flask and took a gulp of ice cold jack daniels and it felt amazing. I shared it around as we all soaked up the moment. Not long after my Welsh flag came out as well as my Welsh boy t-shirt which I had had since my dad handed it to me when I was 17. I felt proud to be Welsh at that moment and felt emotional when raising the flag high above me. I knew many Welsh people had been at this same spot but it still felt amazing and again was a massively life changing moment for me.

I soon began to feel the cold however as it had been -25 in the morning so i soon put the flag away and threw my down jacket back on. I took a few moments thinking about who had been at this spot, people like Sir Edmund Hilary and also the people who had lost their lives on this amazing mountain and departed not long after.

My thoughts were that this would not be the last time I would see this place but at that stage I was shattered and couldn't wait to get warm.
Making the journey back to Gorekshep was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was close to collapsing a few times with a serious lack of energy. The adrenaline had kept me going before but all I wanted now was to get warm. After about 2 hours of agonizing walking I had made it back in one piece. My tired body slumped into one of the seats at my lodge and I thought about what I had done.

I would never be the same again. Although an amazing moment in my life it was also one of the most difficult and challenging and that's what made it for me. I had never pushed myself like that but knew that I could do it again. The journey in these amazing mountains would soon come to an end but I couldn't wait to see what other journeys life had in store for me.