This is our incredible Everest Base Camp story. In 2020 Matt (me) and Matt (friend) went on an incredible journey to the foot of the world tallest mountain, Everest Base Camp. While in the heart of the Himalayas we were oblivious to the world stopping COVID pandemic that was picking up serious momentum. Find out what happened next.
WELCOME TO KATHMANDU
Our Everest Base Camp Story begins with my arrival in Kathmandu, mid-March 2020. The global reaction to the Corona Virus had not yet began to escalate and there were no travel restrictions in place in Nepal. The country currently had zero confirmed cases and Donald Trump was still referring to it as nothing more than a flue.
When I met up with my mate from home (also named Matt), our plan was to spend a couple nights in Kathmandu before joining the G Adventures Everest Base Camp Trek tour.
It was both of our first times in Nepal and we both had minimal trekking experience. From start to finish our Everest Base Camp adventure had it all. Moments of pure joy and triumph, injuries and hangovers, adversity and of course, a global pandemic.
To be honest, I don’t think there was a day that I didn’t say to Matt, ‘it’s a miracle we’ve made it this far.’
ZOSTEL
We initially met up at hostel named Zostel, a popular hostel in the Thamel district of Kathmandu.
Although minor travel warnings were spread across the globe, at the time, Zostel was vibrant and at capacity each night. There were literally people waking up, packing their bags, checking out and then checking straight back in to different beds in the same hostel.
In what we learnt to be true Kathmandu style, the place had a beautiful rooftop bar and a colourful beer garden on the ground floor. The people staying were friendly, diverse and from all parts of the world. It was really everything you look for as a backpacker.
Catching up with Matt and the friends he had already made in day before my arrival was perfect. The Everest beers were flowing and the conversations were full of excitement as everybody was heading off to start various treks in the coming days.
When it eventually came out that Matt and I organised this trip when we were drunk a few month back everybody lost it (but also weren’t too surprised). They were laughing at our lack of knowledge and overall lack of preparation for the trek.
I remember on the flight to Lukla Matt was asked if he had done any training for the trek, to which he responded ‘I’ve watched a documentary.’ Although it does sounds a bit reckless, that’s the vibe we were going with for on this trip. Care free. Just go with it.
And to be honest, we were really enjoying ourselves.
HAPPY HOLI!
This is where our story really starts.
The day before our flight to Lukla, just so happened to be Holi. For those that don’t know; Holi is one of the biggest festivals in Nepal.
During the festival Nepalese people and tourists celebrate by throwing colourful powder and water at each other to express good wishes and blessings. It truly is an incredible day and what made it even more special for us is the fact that neither of us knew about it prior to being told about it the night before.
Waking up the morning of Holi we had beers shoved in our hands before breakfast, paint was flying everywhere and literally everybody in the city joined in celebration!
We both really got caught up in the festival. Unfortunately though, this was not without casualties.
By the time lunchtime had arrived, I had chipped my front tooth on the beer I was carrying, and Matt had injured his right knee quite badly. Embarrassingly, both of these injuries were acquired through act of dodging water balloons thrown by very, very young children. Turns out alcohol, the reckless Aussie attitude and water balloons do not mix. Anyway, we weren’t going to let those incidents dull our Holi!
We carried on back at Zostel with our friends and inadvertently skipped the G Adventures meet up dinner scheduled for 6:00pm.
Eventually we rocked up to Fuji Hotel just after midnight with beers still in hand. Hotel reception called our guide to come greet us and if I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tour guide more scared. Matt could barely walk due to his knee, we were both covered head to toe in paint, and we very well ‘hydrated’ – talk about making a first impression.
BEGINNING THE EVEREST BASE CAMP TREK
The next morning we some how managed to both wake up at 5:00am and scramble our way on to the small shuttle bus out the front of our hotel. This was the first time we met our other seven group members. All of which, looked concerned as sh*t by the time we caught the plane from Kathmandu to Lukla!
It was mixture of concern for Matt’s well-being and also whether Matt would slow the group down, taking away from the experience. Our guide later confessed to us that he didn’t think Matt would make to Everest Base Camp with his injury.
He decided to take him to the first view point of Mount Everest which was on Day 2 of the trek. At this point he would make a final decision on whether to send Matt back to Kathmandu or allow him to attempt the remainder of the trek. At the time, Matt was really struggling to walk. Knowing Matt personally, I knew that he wasn’t going to quit, unless he felt he was ruining the rest of the groups experience. So I wasn’t too worried.
ON THE UP!
After the day one struggles to Phakding, our adventure really started to improve. Our hangovers were gone, Matts knee wasn’t giving him as much trouble (anti-inflammatories) and our group was really starting to connect.
We started that morning with a team huddle which was really uplifting. We decided each day a different member of the group would have a shot at pumping up the team before a long day of hiking. Being March it wasn’t too cold (yet) and the sky was clear. This meant we could easily see the peaks of the surrounding, beautiful Himalayan mountains. We were crossing scary suspension bridges, dodging horses, donkeys, joks and of course, the head bobbing mountain yaks.
After a few days, we even got caught in a blizzard which was epic! Also, it was my first time seeing snow fall.
ALARM BELLS RINGING ON THE EVEREST BASE CAMP TREK
When we arrived in Dingboche (3 days from Everest Base Camp) the news of the escalation of the Corona Virus started to filter through the group. Peoples flights were being cancelled, international borders were closing and our tour guide informed us that all G Adventures tours starting tomorrow until the end of April were cancelled worldwide.
The Nepalese government even shut down all Mount Everest expeditions for the entire season.
Our group was strongly advised to turn around in order to avoid being stranded in a Nepal lockdown situation, as the government was pushing to close the airport.
When we received the news we were all sitting around the yak-heater in the tea house. Everybody was on wifi, worried and upset about their situations. Despite all this, we had a group decision to make: turn around now or finish what we started?
We decided that we would push on as planned and reduce the trek back to Lukla by a day. It was also agreed that we would not use wifi until we got back to Lukla. This was decided because the groups moral was dropping each time someone would turn on wifi and share the Corona Virus news with the group.
I was really happy with this decision because we were so close to base camp and being Australian, I was confident my government wouldn’t turn its back on me – should sh*t really hit the fan.
LETS DO THIS!
For the remaining three days of hiking on the way to Everest Base Camp there was a lot of traffic heading back to Lukla, and a lot of choppers going back and forth overhead. This included a mixture of porters carrying the Everest Summit Expedition equipment and other trekkers who had either just reached Everest Base Camp, or had heard the news and decided to turn around mid-trek. Our guide even pointed our Nepalese families returning from their seasonal work postings in the higher altitude.
To be honest, we felt like bad asses pushing ahead against the governments directive.
We were determined because we were ultimately on a trek that some people only dream of doing. Surrounded by beautiful gigantic snow capped Himalayan mountains and immersed in that adventure frame of mind. Who would want to turn back? Besides, at the time there was still no confirmed cases in Nepal.
From what we could gather on the news, altitude sickness aside, we thought we were in the safest place in the world.
REACHING EVEREST BASE CAMP
As we were walking on the ridge line alongside the Khumbu Glacier, we got our first glimpse of Everest Base Camp. One of our group members shouted ‘Is that it?!’ Our guide confirmed that the huge pile of rocks at the base of the Ice Fall and surrounding mountains was, in fact, Everest Base Camp.
Apart from the big rock spray painted red with ‘Everest Base Camp’ and the prayer flags, there was literally nothing there at all! This was because by the time we arrived, all the expeditions had packed up and gone.
For me, I was not disappointed in the slightest. I kept thinking about how unique it was for us to have Everest Base Camp to ourselves. Especially during peak season.
Matt and I finally got to crack open the beers we had been carrying since Phakding to celebrate.
With all the adversities we’d faced, I was really proud of everyone. And thankful to our guide for not throwing in the towel. It was a really good moment to share with each other, and the group.
Our Everest Base Camp story did not finish there – we still had to get home!
EVEREST BASE CAMP TO DOHA ANYONE?
We managed to hike back to Lukla in just three days. When we arrived and switched on wifi for the first time since Dingboche you could hear a pin-drop in the room. The world did, literally crumble around us. Nobody in our group got through unscathed. Either their flights and tours got cancelled, their governments closed their borders, or their employment was facing uncertainty. Our poor tour guide and porters found out they were without work until the next Everest season at least.
Nobody really knew what to do next.
There was discussion about potentially riding out the virus in Kathmandu. This was mostly fuelled by the adrenaline we were feeling off the back of Everest Base Camp. But the uncertainty of what was to come was enough to persuade us otherwise.
We had no idea the length of the travel ban. To make matter worse, the city was going into lock down in three days time. Eventually, Matt and I decided our best bet was to get home as soon as possible.
Matt and I both had to pay $2500.00 for flights back to Melbourne. This included a very convenient (sarcasm) flight to the Middle East to catch a joining flight to Melbourne from Doha.
On a normal day you’d fly to Kuala Lumpur, then on to Melbourne with the flights costing about $500. Ouch! But, at least we had a plan to get home.
SHOTGUNS AND POLICE OFFICERS
On our final night in Kathmandu, Matt and I were walking down the street in search of a taxi when a police vehicle was driving our way in the opposite direction. The vehicle pulled over and two officers stepped out of the car behind us. We had done nothing wrong so kept walking as if nothing had happened.
What happened next still sends shivers down my spine when I remember it.
One of the officers called out to us to turn around. Before we could even process what was said, all we heard was, ’Chic-chic!’ The sound of the massive shot-gun cocking behind us and being pointed in our direction was terrifying.
‘Where are you going?’ Asked the officer, to which we promptly responded ‘Airport’. Considering we were carrying our luggage I would of thought it was pretty obvious. They said ‘Good’ and left us be.
TIL’ NEXT TIME NEPAL!
We concluded that with the city scheduled for lock down, police probably wanted to scare tourists into returning home. This was a stark contrast to the reception we received upon our arrival in Kathmandu, and the bright happiness of the Holi.
But it did give us a clearer understanding of the magnitude of global fear surrounding the Corona Virus.
My thoughts were with the Nepalese people whose economy relies heavily on tourism. Those who work in tourism were essentially out of work until the restrictions were lifted. My tour guide explained that one tourist in Nepal impacts financially on up to 20 people.
Read more about the impact of tourism in Nepal from the World Bank.
Looking back, while I was disappointed that my trip got cut short, I’m very grateful for the unique experience. It was most certainly an epic adventure. Hopefully I am fortunate enough to return to Nepal in the future.
This was our Everest Base Camp story.
Til next time Nepal! Nameste. x
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