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“But out morale was dimmed by the two flight cancellations to Lukla and also the witnessing of a flight crash at the Kathmandu airport. But once we boarded the flight to Kathmandu, all was forgotten.”
“People do not decide to be extraordinary. They decide to do extraordinary things.”
Edmund Hillar
Welcome to Chantal’s story of her Everest Base Camp Trek
One does not always wake up to a cup of hot lemon-tea in one hand and fresh white-as-white-goes snowfall, on the other! Meet Chantal Sharma, an army child, to whom travelling comes as naturally as the candles come to a candle-light dinner. Cheesy? Well, we thought so too.
Chantal, a law student from Bangalore, has always had her hands full of adventurous stints one after the other. Amongst her multiple encounters with Nature, one which she amusingly never forgets is that of attempting to swim in the Dead Sea. Little did she know then that one cannot swim in the Dead Sea, all that she’d be left with would be concentrated salt water in the eyes, and a stock of laughter to share with others!
In a quick talk with Thrillophilia post her trip, she confessed that, “As an army child, travelling is engraved in me. Trekking became my passion ever since I trekked Mount Sinai in Egypt.” Seldom do we come across such travelling souls who dream, believe, achieve and repeat! No questions asked. The 21-year-old had always dreamt of seeing the Mount Everest up close, it being the highest peak in the world, lo and behold – the lady did manage to get a date with Nature’s greatest creation. Rather than hearsay, Miss Sharma has always believed in ‘say-do’ rather, whose dream is to hike the Grand Canyon one day!
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Setting Up the Date – Planning the Everest Base Camp Trek
They say that one does not conquer mountains, rather they conquer themselves. In all honesty, Chantal’s ideologies were a complete match with the previous statement. She dreamt about seeing Everest, got her trekking gang together, and she conquered herself! After months of planning and browsing through various websites online, in the end she trusted her trekking soul to choose Thrillophilia for planning her Himalayan date for her. And oh boy, she did say that, “…Thrillophilia helped me follow this dream through the various packages that they offer”!
A due advantage for her to have this date set was her previous romantic escapades with the mountains. The feet knew how to tread along the rocky path, and the eyes were set on the goal. Off did the gang set forth foot for the Himalayan escapade on the 10th of March, 2018.
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The Date-Mates
We all know how travel leaves us speechless first, and then turns us into story-tellers. Meet Chantal’s Trekking Group who set with her on the Everest Base Camp Trek with their own individualistic emotions at stake. Nothing was going to be the same, after the face-to-face encounter with the Himalayas; nothing ever remains the same!
Miss Sharma defines her travellers as “a bunch of eccentric sweethearts.” Meet Karen, Chantal, Manjunath, Akshay, Parth, Deedar and Shivani (not in order), who left their presence on a stone at the Kala Patthar, as their memoir.
The Date’s Itinerary – Everest Base Camp Trek
Chantal’s 14 Nights and 15 Days Journey flagged off on the 10th of March, right when they landed in Kathmandu to feel the local vibes, before they set trail to be catching another flight to Lukla. However, not all was as easy as it seems. The group’s morale took a big hit when they witnessed two back-to-back flight cancellations to Lukla, and thoughts passed the minds of the trekkers that weather conditions might not be on their sides. The group did not give up, and before they knew there had already landed in Lukla. The key places covered in this rocky(ing) trip was Kathmandu, Lukla, Phakding, Namche Bazar, Tengboche, Dingboche, Thukla, Luboche, Gorakshep, Kala Patthar, and Pheriche.
Reached Lukla? But first, let me take a selfie!
The Approach to Kathmandu
“…but once we boarded the flight to Kathmandu, all was forgotten, expressed Chantal with a twinkle in her eyes. Truly, every international trip that we plan with our friends are destined to face obstacles – permission from parents, permission from the pets of the friends, permission from the friends themselves, and on certain occasions, the Government or if looked at on a higher authority, Nature itself. Chantal faced the same when it came to executing her trip; two flight cancellations and an unfortunate incident at Kathmandu airport; but none dimmed her spirit to get going on what she had always dreamt of – her date with Mount Everest.
The Dudh Koshi River and the encompassng green mountains mark their way to Namche.
The next few days were not romantic, trust us. It was not meant to be! Romance and Travel are alike; both captivate your life when you least expect it. The journey to the Base Camp was tiring, tough and yet did manage to “capture their hearts and hypnotize them”. The trekking in the initial first few days was about crossing lively small villages, the rapidly flowing Dudh Koshi River and majestic green mountains. The group always did manage to interact with the locals and their fellow travellers. During her conversation with Thrillophilia after the trek, Chantal quotes, “I missed the group I trekked with, they became really close friends”. Below is a glimpse of how their trekking unfolded in the first few couple of days!
The Reciprocation from Kala Patthar
Travelling is never a one-way affair, of simply heading to a destination. The reciprocation from the roads makes you who you are. Miss Sharma realized this soon enough, as an army child, and has fondly locked away her memories in the safe-box she calls a heart. Everest reciprocated its love, in many a way; uncountable, inexplicable and invaluable, truly. Upon asking her about her favourite moment from the trip, she recalls the morning at Cafe 8848 in Namche Bazar, when the world just meant the enchanting experience of looking at the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas with the company of a cup of piping-hot tea
Another such expression of love from the Everest was the expected snowfall, much later during the trip. Imagine the picture of Sky Blue Clouds, White Mountains and all of a sudden, snowfall outside the window of your tea-house? Beautiful, right? Well, it does not surprise Chantal or travelling souls like her anymore. Living in the same city is indeed, like reading just one page of the book you call life.
Hello, Everest Base Camp!
After the 10 Nights of hiking on the rocky terrain, the sun shined the brightest in the minds of Chantal for she finally got to see the view of Everest up-closest she could. Many people while reading this do think that this is the moment when she reached the Everest Base Camp. Allow us to bust a popular belief that you get to see the Mount Everest from the Base Camp; no, one simply cannot! That’s exactly how massive the neighbouring mountains stand at, around Mount Everest.
There are three steps to attain something, something that you have always dreamt of; something that always is sub-consciously running in the back of your minds. One is dreaming, another is preparing and third is executing. A sense of silent accomplishment takes over the body and leaves you spellbound, and this is exactly how Chantal felt when she rested her feet on the Everest Base Camp, and trekked to Kala Patthar to honour her date! She beautifully puts her thought forth, “At the Base Camp, a feeling of accomplishment rushed through each one of us. Boarding the flight back to Lukla was heartbreaking because we knew that our wonderful journey has come to an end”
Quick Tips to Set up a date with Mount Everest-Chantal Speaks!
In her conversation with Thrillophilia, Chantal did not shy away from sharing quick tips how you can set up your date with Everest, and the ways to go about it. Here they are!
- No matter how many clothes you wear, it’s still going to be freezing cold. The best would be to prepare your mind and body to bear the cold, and certainly, carry an adequate amount of trekking wear.
- At some point of the trip, you are bound to fall sick. Don’t let that stop you. Carry your regular medicines and check with your travel guides about the others that you must carry!
- The food is going to be just basic meals, one must not expect too much. It is a trek, not a vacation.
- Drinking water stops tasting normal, and hence carry flavours like Tang to mix with it.
- Everything becomes expensive after Namche Bazar. Carry cash, it’s always going to be proving handy to you.
- Take adequate precaution to prevent blisters on feet.
Until next time, for Chantal. For you, tomorrow is today! Take a sneak peek into what the Everest Base Camp is all about here. Upon the feedback received from Chantal, Thrillophilia is already making adjustments in the tour package in order to make it an all-the-more beautiful experience for the trekkers. She concludes her conversation by saying that, “I personally miss the solitude and quietness that you find in the Himalayas”.
