Everest Base Camp (EBC) Trek (May 2023)

PA.

PB. Trekking route from Lukla to EBC.

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PD. EBC and its surrounding area labelled.

12 May 2023

Our plane reached KTM early. We came out of the airport and met our guide Prakash who had been waiting for us. The driver drove us to Hotel Thamel. We saw drunkards lying on the street on the way to the hotel.

We met Rameswar and paid him the package fees, as well as exchange NPR with him. We could not get good sleep during the night, as there was a disco nearby and it was Friday night.

13 May 2023 - Trekking Day 1

It was an early morning departure from the hotel. The hotel packed our breakfasts for us. We reached the domestic airport around 530am. Tara Air staff charged us NPR1500 for luggage overweight. The flight was scheduled to be 615am, but we only took off around 830am. We boarded the plane with another trekker Cheong who was from Guangzhou. We reached Lukla around 930am, with thunderous applause from the passengers. Thank god we finally managed to reach Lukla.

I must praise Mr.Rameshwar from Cordial Trek from saving us the 5-hour car ride to Ramechhap. He managed to get us the tickets from Kathmandu to Lukla, which was really an amazing feat. Imagine if we had to endure a 5-hour bumpy car ride from Kathmandu to Ramechhap to catch the flight to Lukla. In case you didn't know, Nepal government has mandated flights to Lukla to be departed from Ramechhap Airport, instead of departing from the ever busy Kathmandu Airport during the busier trekking months from April to May, to relieve the congestion in Kathmandu Airport. Only the first flight of the day for each airline will depart from Kathmandu to Lukla, later flights of the day will all be departing from Ramechhap to Lukla. Somehow we managed to get the precious air tickets.

V0. Video taken by Allan:



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P2. At that point I didn't know two of my trekking mates will ended up in this plane days later. I bet they didn't know too.

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P7. Original trekking route to Lukla if one does not want to take the flight to Lukla. 7 more trekking days one way.

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V1.

Our guide Prakash brought us to the Nest Lodge in Lukla for a drink. Our two young porters Nawint and Surendran were already waiting for us at the Nest. After a hot drink, we started to trek towards Phakding, our destination for the day. The trek to Phakding was quite uneventful, as we were mainly going downhill. At Lukla we had to make a trek card at the near the starting point.

P9. Mapping it all out.

P10. The start of the fellowship.

P11. Main street of Lukla.

P12. After we had done our EBC trek card, we officially started our trek to Phakding. Question: Who is Pasang Lhamu?

Lukla to Phakding

Duration: 3 Hours

Distance: 8.2 km

Starting Elevation: 2,840 m

Ending Elevation: 2,610 m

True Elevation Gain: 277 m

Net Elevation Gain: -230 m



(Information on the trekking routes were extracted from: https://triptins.com/everest-base-camp-trek-distance/)

We crossed some swing bridges crossing the river Dudh Kosi. We will be trekking along the river to Namche Bazaar the next day.

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V2.

We reached Phakding around 2pm, in time for our lunch. The lodge at Phakding was being renovated, so we were assigned room at the 3rd floor, as the rooms in the 2nd floor were no available. Walking up stairs at this point was really not a wonderful thing but we had no choice. The food was quite good. Garlic soup was ordered for dinner, as it would help chase away AMS and kept us warm.

14 May 2023 - Trekking Day 2

Today we had a long and arduous climb ahead of us from Phakding to Namche, about 1000m.

Duration: 7 Hours

Distance: 10.9 km

Starting Elevation: 2,610 m

Ending Elevation: 3,440 m

True Elevation Gain: 1,125 m

Net Elevation Gain: 830 m

We trekked to the National Park permit office to get our permits approved. Then we continue to trek to Manjo to have our snacks. After Manjo, it was a uphill climb from through Namche hill to Namche Bazaar.

P15. Our lodge in Phakding. Our room was on the 3rd floor.

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P17. Sagarmatha National Park permit office.

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P20. Someone took a horse down.

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P22. Namche!!

Our hotel, Hotel Bodhi, was at the beginning part of Namche Bazaar. The free wifi didn't work, so I bought Everest Link wifi from the lodge. Device charging cost Npr 200 per device.

Our room was on the ground floor, and we could see lady hikers doing yoga right outside our room.

This lodge did not have stove heating system in the dining hall, so it was pretty cold. The food was not good, I would ranked it one of the worst dining experience in our trek.

The solar hot water system was really troublesome. If we turn on the hot water, it will be scalding hot, but when we turn the cold water knob to mix with the hot water, the water flow will turn to very cold, it was hard to strike a balance.

There was a volleyball court right outside the hotel, and the locals play volleyball there everyday. The owner of the hotel does golf, so there was a small driving practice lawn in the hotel compound.

Dinner was a noisy affair. There was a table of lady hikers who were singing loudly. Adding the fact that the food was mediocre and the dining room was so cold, we could not wait to get out of the dining room.

We walked to the cafe near the Irish Bar to have a drink. Then we went back to Irish Bar to have drinks, to charge our devices, and to have free wifi use. The bar tender spoke very good English, and was very nice to us. He did however recorded one extra beer that we did not consume though, which I went back to claim from him. He admitted to the mistake and refunded me the Npr the next day.

P23A. Beer at the world's highest Irish Bar!

Picture was taken by Yau.

P23B.

The bar was full of patrons, and the whole place felt warm as the central heating stove was turned on.

We were mindful that the hotel gate will close by 930pm. There was a notice in the Irish Bar that stated : if you get locked out of the hotel, please enquire with us as we have rooms to spare. That was a very nice gesture.

We met the owner of the hotel, who was also in the bar with his friends, he assured us that the gate will not be locked, and we could stay in the bar longer if we wished.

15 May 2023 - Acclimatisation Day

We were rudely awaked by the Nepalese guide who stayed opposite to our room. He banged the room door loudly when he returned from his drinking and was locked out of his room. The three guides continued to chat loudly after the drunk guide was led into the room. We made a complaint to the lodge operator the next morning as our sleeps were affected by their inconsiderate behaviours.

Duration: 3 Hours

Distance: 5.4 km

Starting Elevation: 3,440 m

Ending Elevation: 3,880 m

True Elevation Gain: 440 m

Net Elevation Gain: 440 m

We had a morning acclimatisation walk from Namche to the museum in the morning. We passed by a school before we reached the army camp entrance. The museum was just next to the army camp. From the museum, we could see Thamsekkur snow mountain and Kongde snow mountain, as well as Everest's peak from afar. At the time we were visiting, there were workers doing renovation to the museum.

P24. Pano view of Namche.

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P27. Statue of Tenzing Norgay.

P28. View from the Sherpa museum.

After the museum visit, we went to Everest View Hotel for tea. Richard and I walked the wrong way, and lucky we went to ask another guide who was accompanying his client Mike. We ended up walking with Mike and his guide to the Everest View Hotel. Honey Lemon there cost Npr 1180 for a medium pot. Everest was shrouded in clouds at the time we were having tea.

P29. A greek trekker from New York that we met along the way.

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P31A. Waiting for our honey lemon ginger at the cafe of the world's highest hotel.

Richard and I ended up following Mike and his guide to walk down to another village, and returned to Namche by a long way. By the time Richard and I reached Namche, Yau and Allan already had their lunch at the Steak House, as they have descended by the original route, which was much shorter.

P32. Street of Namche.

Allan and Yau went to the art gallery to purchase the oil paintings that they like.

In the evening, we ordered only a few simple dishes in the hotel, and had a bigger feast in the Irish Bar. The chicken wings and pizzas were better there.

In the bar, we were joined by a few other trekkers from China. One of them just returned from EBC, the other lady is going to do 3-passes trek, while Cheong (who was in the same flight with us) will be doing Island Peak expedition. All of them were amazing trekkers.

16 May 2023 - Trekking Day 4

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Duration: 5 Hours

Distance: 9.6 km

Starting Elevation: 3,440 m

Ending Elevation: 3,860 m

True Elevation Gain: 878 m

Net Elevation Gain: 420 m

Today was another big day, from Namche to Debuche, via Tengboche. We had to trek all the way down to the river bank of Imja Khola, and then climb all the way to Tengboche.

The Imja Khola is a tributary of the Dudh Kosi. It drains the slopes of Mount Everest. The Khumbu Glacier melts into the Lobujya (Lobuche) River, which flows southward as the Imja Khola to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi at Tengboche. The Imja Khola collects water from the Imja Glacier through the Dingboche Valley.

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P37. The national flower of Nepal - Rhododendrons. I am always by the different vibrant colours and sakura-like appearance of this flower.

P38. Our porter.

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P41. The tibetan monastery at Tengboche.

V3.

There was a very beautiful tibetan style buddist monastery at the top of Tengboche hill. Opposite the monastery was a bakery. We had hot drinks there before we trek down to our destination today - Debuche.

P42. Our lodge at Debuche.

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We were the only guests in the lodge in Debuche. The food was good. The hot shower was gas type, and only available in one room, not in our rooms, to prevent gas wastage.

At round 5pm, our guide called us out to see the sunset on the snow mountains. On the right was Ama Dablam, on the far left were Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse.

P44. The view of Everest from Debuche.

P45. Ama Dablam in sunset.(6816m)

Dinner was good and the hotel has central stove heating so we were kept warm during dining.

17 May 2023 - Trekking Day 5

Duration: 6 Hours

Distance: 10.5 km

Starting Elevation: 3,860 m

Ending Elevation: 4,410 m

True Elevation Gain: 697 m

Net Elevation Gain: 550 m

The walk from Debuche to Dingboche was a windy affair. We passed by Pangboche before crossing the tree line, and entered Windy Valley. The winds were strong at some points in the valley. After crossing the river, we entered Dingboche Village. Our lodge for the next 2 days were Stupa Inn. Stupa Inn has good food, and the staff who man the counter happened to work in a glove factory in Malaysia before. The lodge charge for hot shower and for device charging. The Everest Link wifi did not work in the lodge. There was a large stupa tower just outside the lodge.

P46. Sleepy hollow.

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There was a cafe nearby called Cafe 4410, which we hang out in the afternoon. The cafe was blocked by perimeter walls of other buildings, so we had to walk around They allow free charging of device if you spend at least Npr400 on drinks/food. The Everest Link wifi works here as well so I could use my wifi. They sold cups made from clay, with the logo Cafe 4410. At 2pm everyday, they have documentary showing. We missed the showing today, and will come back for viewing tomorrow.

P50. Cafe 4410.

P51.

Allan and I happened to meet Luke, who was from UK. He told us that the hiker in his lodge was not well due to AMS, and was resting on the bed. The toilet bowl in his lodge was broken. Allan and i were glad that Stupa Inn was in good condition.

We also happened to pass by another smaller cafe before walking into Cafe 4410. The other cafe was showing the movie Ratatouille. The uncanny thing was - while I was trekking in the mountain, I suddenly thought about this cartoon as well as the other cartoon Igor, even though I had never watched any of these movies before. I was so surprised that the cafe was showing a movie that suddenly came to my mind before I reach Dingboche.

During dinner, we were chatting with a polish trekker. He is a scuba diving instructor as well as a ski instructor, very adventurous guy. The dining hall has quite a few hikers. We were happy to sit around the central heating stove (which was also used to boil water) and gather some warmth from the stove.

I started to sleep with my sleeping bag from this point on.

18 May 2023 - Acclimatisation Day

When it was near morning, the clouds have been all lifted, and I took the opportunity to capture milky way and the night starry sky outside the lodge. Lucky thing was there was no wind, so even though it was chilly, there was not wind to make the cold any worse.

P52. The Milky Way.

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P54. The stupa right outside our lodge.

Our guide Prakash was meditating near the stupa in the morning, while we were admiring the morning sunrise view.

Acclimatisation walk in Dingboche in the morning went well. We walked up together with the Taiwanese group (31 retirees from Taiwan) who happened to have similar schedule as us up to Lobuche, so we kept bumping into one another. The eldest is 75 years old and still going strong.

V6.

P55. Kangtega (6782m) and Thamserku (6623m).

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P57. Dingboche in the morning.

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P59. We saw green tents set up by a company who did trekking tour for its clients along the way. They dismantle the tents short after we reached.

P59A. The Polish hiker went up to Lobuche one day earlier than us. His guide who trekker in front of him, Geli Sherpa, summitted Everest 3 years ago. Now he did guiding for Mera Peak and Island Peak.

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P61. Saw some eagles drafting higher and higher on our acclimisation hike.

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Our guide Prakash told us that in the month of August, no live fire and cooking is allowed in Dingboche. So residents here will move out of Dingboche to other villages and return after.

Lunch was at Cafe 4410. The pizza was very disappointing. Yau told us a ghost story that affected him and his family, and we were all amazed by this real-life story.

Luke came for the documentary, so we watched the documentary about the avalanche that killed 16 sherpas in 2014, which led to tension and conflicts between the western expedition teams and the local sherpas, regarding the rescue and resumption of climbing after the tragedy.

The lodge was empty today, after everyone left except the four of us.

19 May 2023 - Trekking Day 7

Dingboche to Lobuche via Thukla

Duration: 5 Hours

Distance: 7.9 km

Starting Elevation: 4,410 m

Ending Elevation: 4,910 m

True Elevation Gain: 612 m

Net Elevation Gain: 500 m

The Taiwanese group was with us again hiking towards Lobuche, via Thukla. The hike in the morning was quite dramatic, with strong winds blowing across the plateau. We could see Pheriche from the plateau. Pheriche was the helicopter interchange between Lukla and EBC region. the smaller helicopter which only carry up to 2 passengers from Gorakshep will stop at Pheriche, and the helicopter who can carry 5 passengers at one go will take the passengers from Periche down to Lukla. The authority restricted the number of passengers that can be carried upstream in base camp region, due to safety concerns over thinner air and lesser lift available.

P63. Ama Dablam on the left, Kangtega and Thamserku on the right.

P64. Pheriche village below was the helicopter interchange. There were many helipads around the village.

P65. The 3 wise men.

P66. Allan proposing to Yau.

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V8.

After crossing the plateau, we had to cross a glacial stream. The Taiwanese trekkers took a sfer route higher up, while we took the short cut which was more adventurous. Prakash had to look after wobbly me when crossing the river as I was never good at balancing.

Our lunch point was at a restaurant in Thukla pass. We saw a Tibetan Snowbird while hiking up, which was a pretty rare sighting.

P67. Crossing the stream near Thukla.

V8a. Video recorded by Allan.


P68. A very busy cafe in Thukla.

P69. A rare sighting of Tibetan Snowbird in the month of May.

Thukla, our third high pass at 15,846 feet, is marked by more than 100 memorials honoring climbers and Sherpas, including legendary climber Babu chiri Sherpa, who summited Everest 10 times and held two world records: 21 hours on the summit without auxiliary oxygen, and the fastest ascent, in 16 hours and 56 minutes. He fell into a crevasse and died in 2001 on his 11th summit bid. Scott Fischer, reknowned for his ascent of the world's highest peaks, including K2 and Lhotse without supplemental oxygen, also has a memorial there. Fischer died during the 1996 blizzard on Everest while descending from the peak. (You can read about the tragedy in 1996 that killed many hikers in the book Into Thir Air, written by Jon Krakauer. It is a very good read, and Jon is a good writer.)

P70. The memorial at Thukla Pass.

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After we reached Lobuche, first thing we saw was the block of ice outside the rooms. Our coughing got more frequent and intense, and I can feel the headache.

The rooms felt cold as there was cracks in the wooden plank wall. No more attached toilets from here on, all shared toilets.

There was brief snow in the afternoon while we were resting in the room. The snow lasted for about 30 minutes, before the sun came out again.

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V10.

The lodge cooked us the wrong food during our dinner. Even though the lodge didn't have many tenants at that time, I was told that during the busier months of climbing seasons, sometimes people have to sleep in the dining hall due to lack of sleeping rooms.

20 May 2023 - Trekking Day 8

Lobuche to EBC via Gorakshep

Duration: 7 Hours

Distance: 11.7 km

Starting Elevation: 4,910 m

EBC Elevation: 5,364 m

Ending Elevation: 5,125 m

True Elevation Gain: 502 m

Net Elevation Gain: 454 m (Lobuche to EBC)

We started our trek around 6am, and trekked towards Gorakshep. We reached Gorakshep in good time, around 9am. After we checked into our lodge in Gorakshep, we trekked towards EBC. We bumped into the Polosh trekker on the way but he has apparently forgotten about us.

P75. Pumori (7184m) was seen on the right. Across the mountain will be Tibet in China.

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P81. The village of Gorakshep with Pumori in the background. We left our luggage here and only brought the essentials for the trek to EBC.

Managed to reach EBC around noon time. We could see the big tentage area from far away. We bumped into many sherpas carrying camps and equipment demobilised as a result of climbing season nearing the end. Many yak trains and sherpas porters passed us. Finally we saw the huge rock sprayed with paint : Everest Base Camp 5374m. Everybody was excited and went up the rock for photos. Luke was there around the same time as us. The Taiwanese group was doing Kala Pattar sunset view this evening, and will only come to this place the next day.

From there, we saw many tents for climbers in the base camp area. We could see the top of everest. China-Tibet is across the mountain range.

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P84. Glacier near EBC. Looked a bit like Kryptonite?

P85. Frozen lake near EBC.

P86. Everest Base Camp on the left, Khumbu Icefall and Khumbu Glacier in the middle. The peak of Everest can be seen hiding behind the foreground snow mountains. Camp 1 was above Khumbu Icefall.

P87. Zooming into the peak of Everest.

P88. The actual Everest Base Camp tentage area.

P89. Taking group pictures at the famous rock demarking Everest Base Camp. Trekkers were not allowed to enter the base camp area for many reasons.

We met a mountain bike cyclist who cycled to EBC.

We returned to the lodge in Gorakshep around 4pm. The place was swarmed with trekkers during dinner time. The chinese lady trekker who did the 3-passes trek came over to our lodge to chat with us. She told us that it was snowing outside, which we were not even aware of.

Sleep was difficult as I was coughing, and was having headache, and it was cold. I took two soluble Panadol from Allan, instead of taking the Panadol pills i brought, which was a mistake. Poor Allan could not sleep as he handed me his last two soluble Panadol pills, and he has allergic towards Panadol pills. I had unknowingly took away his last two soluble Panadol pills.

21 May 2023 - Trekking Day 9

Yau and Allan were taking helicopter down from Gorakshep to Pheriche today, before transferring to another larger helicopter to Lukla. The ride was delayed due to the snow yesterday. Allan and Yau had to wait patiently for the delayed heli. Once the sun came up and the mist and fog dispersed, the familiar helicopter rotor sound was heard. They could finish in 15 minutes what will take Richard and I 3 days. The porters had less to carry now that Allan and Yau were down along with their duffel bags.

P90. Fresh snow coated the village.

P91. Allan and Yau waiting for the heli at Gorakshep.

P92. The heli finally came after the sun penetrated the cloud cover.

P93. The sun was up.

P95. Khumbu glacier.

V11.

The whole town was magically transformed to snowy white land after last night snow. All the snow mountains were painted a fresh coat of powder snow.

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P99. The dogs there like to accompany the trekkers for a short stretch before returning to their villages.

P100. Fresh snow powdered the whole valley, as well as added a fesh coat to the snow mountains.

P101. Yak train working strong on the snowy trail.

P102. we heard them ferrying trekkers and goods every few minutes or so.

We had lunch at Thukla, and walked through Pheriche to Pangboche, our resting place for the night. The hike from Pheriche up to Pangboche was painful as we didn't have good sleep the two nights before.

We didn't stay in Pheriche as Pheriche was windy, and still above the tree line.

Our decision to stay in Pangboche was duly rewarded. We had room with attached bathroom, with hot water shower. I could finally take a shower after 2 days of no shower. This was the best gift.

The food in Pangboche was good, and the owner was quite friendly. The dining room has central stove heating, but the younger owner took a long time to get the stove properly lighted up and get the water boiled.

P103. The stove that kept us warm in the dining room.

The dining hall was separated from the wing where our room was, lucky there was no rain or snow that came between us that night.

22 May 2023 - Trekking Day 10

News from Lukla: Yau and Allan managed to fly off from Lukla, and Yau captured a very picture of the Everest and Lhotse using his phone, from the plane.

P104. Picture taken by Yau.

Meanwhile in Pangboche, Richard and I got baked beans for breakfasts, nice. We saved ourselves some ups and downs by starting from Pangboche, towards Namche. The tibetan monastery in Tengboche looked glorious under the sun. We heard chanting and gogn hitting outside the monastery. The guy with the mountain bike was resting outside the bakery and chatting with people who were curious about his adventure. I saw a beautiful blue and yellow bird but couldn't quite capture it on my camera. I also bumped into my former guide who had guided me last year in ABC.

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P107. The Tibetan Monastery on the top left corner, next to the snow mountain. Swing bridge was on the right of the picture.

P108. Mountain goats seen near Tengboche.

P109. The mountain bike dude.

I had a fall on the way down from Tengboche, and I knew I probably needed a rest to remain focus. After sitting down for a while, I stood up and felt that I could start walking again slowly.

We reached Namche around 130pm, and the first place we visited was the Steak House. The owner was so surpised at how sunburned I was, and asked why I didn't cover my face completely to avoid the sun. Then he made a joke and said maybe I did put sunblock on my face, but those lady admirers along the way were so excited about my everest base camp trek that they licked away the sunblock on my face, and we all burst out laughing.

Lunch at Namche was good, just that I didn't have much appetite. One good thing is we could get fresh fruits again, which will help much with rehydration and nutrition.

We went back to Bodhi Lodge for the stay and we were assigned a room at the 2nd level. The room was very clean, nicely decorated and felt warm. The hot shower was still having the same problem as before, either scalding hot or freezing cold, very hard to strike a balance.

P110. Volleyball game near Namche.

We went to the Irish Bar for our drinks and chicken wings, as well as device charging and free wifi. The bartender who managed the bar remembered us. The bar saw less patrons than the first day when we were at the place.

23 May 2023 - Trekking Day 11

Our trek to Phakding started around 7am. We reached Phakding at noon time and had our lunch in the same lodge we stayed on the first night. After lunch, we trekked back up to Lukla, which was painful. Who would expect downhill walk will involved uphill trekking sigh.

P111. Our guide and porters outside the Bodhi Loddge that we stayed. Our room was at the 2nd level this time. Previously it was at the ground level, where we could see lady hikers doing yoga just outside our room.

P112. The horses were still resting when we started our trek.

P113. The confluence of the two streams.

P114. There were ladies meditating nearby.

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P118. The banner about the Platinum Jubilee Anniversary of first ascent of Everest in 1953.

P119. The Nest equivalent near Lukla. A small consolation for Richard and I who did not go to the Nest in Bhutan with Allan and Yau.

We finally reach Lukla around 3pm. The Nest was fully booked as there was only one flight out of Lukla that morning, due to weather. We moved further to Himalaya Lodge. The lodge has a large field. The restaurant was quite grand. The only thing was the internet network was not stable, and it has something to do with the network in Lukla. I missed the network stability in Namche. I had to borrow Richard's phone for an online call due to the network problem, and thank god his phone network was reliable and working.

The hot water shower has to be done in another shower room far away from our room. The walk up and down just to get to the shower room was painful.

Our celebratory dinner with the guide and porters were done in the crowded dining hall. So many dwellers in the lodge suddenly, completely different from the quiet dining room that I first entered in the afternoon. We presented the tips to our porters and thanked them for their great services for the past few days.

The phlegm that I spitted out has blood in them, I needed to get this coughing to stop somehow.

24 May 2023

Our flight to Kathmandu was scheduled today, but whether the planes will come was still anybodys guess. Nonetheless we woke up at 5am and started walking towards the airport around 530am. The Tara Air counter staff were there to weigh our luggage. We waited patiently in the departure hall. The first plane that manded was from Sita Air, followed by Buddha Air, and lastly Tara Air (2 planes). We quickly got up to our plane and secretly prayed that the flight would be smooth. Somehow our prayers worked, the flight took off and landed smoothly in Kathmandu.

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We returned to Hotel Thamel to retrieve our luggage deposited and moved to another hotel (Hotel Heritage Inn Mandala Street). Allan and Yau were happy that we were back to town. They told us that their flight from Lukla back to Kathmandu was not as smooth - Kathmandu was having unfavourable weather conditions, and their flight from Lukla was not allowed to land. The pilot might have to divert the plane to another airport if Kathmandu airport continue to be closed for landing. Luckily a break in the weather appeared and their plane landed after 2 hours in the air.

P123. Very good Thai Food near our hotel.

P124. The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister together with the President.

P125. The travel article written for this trip was published on Singapore newspaper on 17 Aug 2023.

Note:

1. SQ allow upgrading from economy to business if there are availability, by paying the required amount. If you are keen for the upgrade, check your mailbox as the opportunity to upgrade will be sent to you by email.

2. There is only one flight a day between Singapore and Kathmandu by SQ, at night time. The plane could be full in busier months.

3. Good months for trekking in EBC area will be March - May, and Oct - Nov. Avoid the monsoon months and the winter months. Generally, we only used weather forecast as a guide. Before we left for Kathmandu, weather forecasts for EBC trail region showed rainny weather for some days, but when we were actually on the trail, we had dry beautiful weather on all trekking days. The light showers only happened on some nights (one night in Namche I think) and I didn't realise there was rain cos' I was sleeping and only knew about it the next day when Yau and Allan told me.

4. The flight to Lukla will depart from Ramechhap during the busier months. The road transport from Kathmandu to Ramechhap is estimated to be at least 5 hours (with not-so-ideal road condition found in Nepal generally), and the accommodation options in Ramechhap is limited. As far as possible, try to get the first flight ticket between Kathmandu and Lukla if possible.

5. If your flight between Kathmandu and Lukla on the day was cancelled due to weather or plane issues, you will be placed on the next day flight, but on a lower priority. Only when they have cleared the passengers for the next day, then the airline will allocate a seat for you if there are availability.

6. For the attached bathrooms in Debuche and Dingboche, we had to pay extra, otherwise we would be staying in lodges with common bathrooms.

7. There were some lodges with electric blankets available, which will help with warming up the beds.

8. Most establishments have fridges which means they can keep meat fresh for longer period. We had no problem eating meat even at higher elevations.

9. There were two types of paid local wifi - Nepal Air Link and Everest Link. Nepal Air Link was based on per day usage while Everest Link was based on data size usage. Most of the lodges have Nepal Air Link, not so much about Everest Link.

10. I ended up curing the cough in Kathmandu by drinking cough syrup that i bought from pharmacy, and had plenty of sleeps.

11. In 2022, I found it better to pay for the Visa fees by SGD, but this year, I found it cheaper to pay he visa fees by USD. Always fill up the visa form online before reaching Kathmandu and show the completed visa form (hardcopy or softcopy) to the counter to save time.

12. The eateries in the EBC trek have korean instant noodles beside the local brands. Korean instant noodles were popular.

13. Fruits in Kathmandu were sweet, i bought mangoes and lychees. The mangoes in Nepal has a unique sweet flavour.

14. Sky in EBC area tend to be bright early around 5am, and the sky get dark around 6ish.

15. 2023 happened to be the 70th anniversary of human first successful summit of Everest. Many events were planned to celebrate the anniversary, including the usual Marathon.

P126.

16. Yau tried out a yoga session while he was in Kathmandu.

17. On the menu, sometimes you would see hot mango/hot orange. Question: What is hot mango or hot orange?

18. There could be many different spellings about a name of a village, which all refer to the same place.

19. I found that generally the prices in EBC region was more expensive than the ABC region.

20. On some of the trekking days, we could hear roaring sound from the mountains - most likely avalanches, though we couldn't see it.

21. Even in dusty and busy Kathmandu, locals will be seen battling street traffic to do their running/training, which totally amazed me. On the trekking trail, sometimes I could see runners preparing for the marathon organised for end of May.

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