My journey to Everest Base Camp & setting of a ‘World Record’ 

The first story of my life that I heard from my father was the story of Kailash Mansarovar. How people walked there for days carrying food and water. How mesmerising the Kailash Mountain is. How the Mansarovar had nectar water. How dacoits looted travellers of their food and water. How glorious it was to be there. That was my first dream – Kailash Mansarovar. But I wondered why dacoits looted food and not money! 

Though we travelled a lot, the best was at 10 years when I stood on top of Kalapatthar overlooking the Everest Base Camp and Khumbu glacier, staring at Everest.  

Our first trekking journey —Sandakphu, near Darjeeling, a six-day trek, lit the fire. That trek sparked something in all 10 of us who were on the journey. My father’s friends were ready for bigger challenges. Over lunch one day, they all voted to attempt the Everest Base Camp—but only the men, and only next year. 

That evening, Papa returned home disappointed. When he shared the news with my mother, she calmly asked, “Why not this year?” 

And just like that, we were in. 

A young trekker joined us. A day before departure, my father made the announcement. His friends were shocked but supportive. They even came to the airport with flowers and garlands to see us off. 

In Kathmandu, we geared up with rucksacks, jackets, sleeping bags, and trekking shoes. From there, a small flight took us to Lukla (9,334 ft), where the trek began. The small mountain flight saved us from seven extra days of walking. Lukla was covered with apple orchards, though the apples were sour but juicy. 

Our first halt was Phakding, a quiet village by the river. There was only one teahouse to halt in. The trail was thick with forest and the music of birds, and a river flowed through the deep gorge. We crossed the river by hanging a bamboo bridge. I felt alive in ways I couldn’t describe. 

The next day, we reached Namche Bazar (11,286 ft), the biggest village on this trail. I developed a splitting headache—my first brush with altitude sickness. Locals advised rest, and I woke up the next morning completely recovered. The village lay on the slope of the mountain, visible from all corners. We spent the day exploring and soaking in local culture. We climbed to Shyangboche on the top of the mountain as an acclimatisation drill. There was a luxury Japanese hotel with a helipad where Japanese came to have an aerial view of Everest and have a luxury vacation at the foot of the tallest mountain on earth. We all danced and sang by the fire in the evening. 

The next morning, as we ascended to Thyangboche (12,687 ft), a small village on a tabletop, the landscape began to shift. The trees were diluted, and the landscape became barren. Thyangboche had a beautiful Buddhist monastery, and we were thrilled to see the monks playing football on their premises. The monastery and the monks gave life to the whole place. 

The wind turned sharper as we proceeded. Vegetation thinned as we walked through barren mountains. It started drizzling in a while. After an hour, I suddenly realised that the raindrops had turned into snowflakes. I was super excited. Gradually, the bushes turned white; the path turned white. By the time we reached Pheriche (14,340 ft), the snow was ankle-deep. The snowfall had turned into a fast wind, with the snowflakes piercing into our skin. Papa said it is a blizzard. There was only one stand-alone teahouse in the vast, barren, snowcapped land. As we entered, we found lots of trekkers inside. It was filled with Americans, Alaskans, and Germans. The blizzard increased at night and continued for three days. It was scary. We were all running out of food and water. We melted snow to drink water and conserved food by eating less. The snow had risen high and covered the windowpane; the door was blocked, and visibility was zero. The Alaskans were trying to contact the rescue team, but there was no network. We were cut off from the whole world. 

On the third night, I woke up to loud voices. I saw everyone running towards the main door,  going out through the open door. We followed. The moment I stepped out, I saw a clear sky with the full moon shining brightly, the entire snow-covered land glittering in moonlight. Everyone rejoiced by playing with snowballs and making snowmen. 

We were ready to move on the next morning. Unfortunately, we did not have snow boots. We wrapped thick plastic bags around our hiking shoes and our heavy feather jackets and marched forward. In no time, we started feeling very hot under the sun. It was so hot that we had to take them off. 

Little did we know that at high altitudes, in the snow, where the UV rays are very high, it feels very hot when the sun is present. That night in Lobuche (16,210 ft), the cold crept into our bones. It was just a night halt in the thick snow. 

The next morning, we reached the Everest Base Camp (17,598 ft) after a tough climb. The base camp had multi-coloured tents scattered about a Swiss expedition group. But it was from Kalapatthar (18,514 ft) that I saw Everest in all her glory. Towering behind Lhotse and Nuptse, she stood majestic, aloof, and eternal. I stretched out my arms, imagining I could touch her. But I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The massive Khumbu glacier was visible from there. I was awestruck. 

As we climbed down to Lukla, I realised how minuscule we are in front of Nature and how Nature can display her multi-dimensional spectacular beauty and her ferocious image at the same time; how she can be gentle and harsh simultaneously. 

Within six months, my travelogue was published. It won a national award. Since it was a world record, the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi felicitated me as the youngest climber to Kalapatthar at that time. 

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