Category: Asia

Sunrise in Mandalay: U-Bein Bridge

Another day, another sunrise. I thought I was done with sunrises, but nope! U-Bein Bridge is a major tourist destination in Mandalay. The bridge is thought to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. Still standing strong. Sunset is the hot time to go see it, and as such, it’s overcrowded by tourists. Emmanuel, Hannah, Ruelie, and I wanted to have the bridge all to ourselves, so we headed out to the bridge at 4:30am. I’m starting to feel like a (semi) real photographer as I head out on these expeditions to get the shot with the best lighting and least amount of people.

Upon arrival, we only see a couple other people taking photos with their tripods. We walk across the bridge in the darkness scoping out the perfect spot for a photo based on the direction of the sun.

As the starts starts begin to disappear and the sky gets brighter, the monks begin to walk across, headed toward their destinations to receive alms for the day.

It’s completely silent aside from the birds that are beginning to chirp. Ruelie and Emmanuel tell me sunset at the bridge is awful— it’s overcrowded by tourists and souvenir sellers. This, they say, is so much better. There are no distractions from the tranquility.

January 17, 2016
The Last of Myanmar in Mandalay

Mandalay was my last stop in Myanmar before heading to Thailand. The second largest city in Myanmar and the former capital, Mandalay reminded me a lot of Yangon but with much more culture. Many people will tell you that you can just skip Mandalay, but I found that it had a lot to offer just outside the city. It is worth a stop, but staying within the city center itself won’t be so rewarding.

Once again arriving in the middle of the night at 4am, I was left waiting on the rooftop of my hostel freezing cold trying to plan out what to see. Had I known before, I would have taken this time to watch the sunrise at the U-Bein Bridge (which I ended up doing later). My first adventure of the day was walking around the entire perimeter of the Mandalay Palace in the center of the city, which was by accident. There are only certain entrances foreigners are allowed to go through. Finding the actual entrance took a surprisingly long hour, only to be surprised by a lovely 10,000 kyat entrance fee. Steven, my friend from Chicago who walked the perimeter with me, was smart and didn’t go in. I felt like I had to go in the palace walls after walking for so long. Word of advice— not worth it, unless you’re a history buff or very interested in architecture. During this time though, Steven did successfully plant the seed of moving to Sweden or elsewhere in Europe for work. Europeans have a great attitude towards traveling. They see it as necessary and an important part of work-life balance. The European mindset is much more me. If I had a penny for every American I’ve met while traveling, I’d still be poor. I might have a dime’s worth now.

Mandalay Palace from the viewing tower

The first day wasn’t much luck for me as I stayed within the city, but the second day showed me what the outskirts of Mandalay truly had to offer. With a group of people from the hostel, we caught the ferry to Mingun, a town about an hour away from Mandalay. There we were able to see the Mingun Pahtodawgyi, which is an enormous stupa that was never completed. The completed stupa would have been the largest in the world. There are huge cracks in it from an earthquake, making it all the more impressive. Nearby is also the Mingun Bell, which is the largest ringing bell in the world. Standing inside it while people are hitting it is an even better experience.

From the top of the stupa you can see the pristine white Myatheindan Pagoda. I have found myself so drawn to white temples during this trip. They stand out so much compared to all the other temples I have seen. Outside this one was an extremely cool old lady smoking a Burmese cigar. I loved her presence— so happy without a care in the world. So full of life!

After spending a short time in Mingun, since the boat for foreigners leaves only 2 hours after arrival, we walked around searching for food and stumbled upon a lively flower market. As much as I enjoy taking pictures of scenery and buildings, people are so much more fascinating. The Burmese are so curious about foreigners as well. I tried hard to get a picture of someone smiling with red-stained, decaying teeth. Dental hygiene is not really a concern in Myanmar, due to their extensive use and addiction to betel nut. So many are constantly chewing it, and you can find crowded betel nut stands everywhere.

The group wanted to head to Mandalay Hill to catch the sunset at the temple. The walk up to the top is around 30 minutes from the South entrance, but it is really enjoyable. There are cute photo-ops along the way and dozens of cats lying around. I had to snap a photo of one of the nuns walking down. I love them, they are so cute! I have never seen a Buddhist nun before, but they are everywhere in Myanmar. They wear pink— it’s fantastic!

Burmese ladies and a nun!

The view at the top is not the best, so I didn’t spend much time even looking at it. Instead, we were set on taking a jumping photo at the top, turning ourselves into a spectacle for everyone else. After twenty or so attempts, I think we may have gotten a single good jumping photo. Everyone else at the top was also taking photos of us since it was apparently really entertaining. So a couple people out there in the world have a great photo of a group of Dutch, American, Greek, Israeli, and French tourists jumping at the top of Mandalay…

January 16, 2016
A Burmese Christmas

Christmas in Myanmar was one for the books. My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas so it doesn’t mean anything to me, but I do miss the holiday spirit and cheer. Peppermint bark, hot chocolate, twinkling lights, and festive Christmas music are so comforting.

On Christmas day, Sian, my friend from Australia, and I decided to bike around Inle Lake and get a closer look at the countryside. We were aiming for the “Forest Temple” which was about 1.5 hour ride away. Little did we know how much uphill biking we were going to have to do at the end, and with our less-than-stellar bikes, we walked the rest of the way up. The monastery at the forest temple had many novices who were curious to see us. I’ve noticed that many of the novices are blind or disabled in some way. They tend to be orphans who had nowhere else to go, so the monastaries took them in. Of course, there are some kids who do choose at a very young age that becoming a monk is the path they want to take.

After the temple, we decided to celebrate the holiday with some wine. Yes, there is a winery in Myanmar! The wine is definitely not the best compared to our California Napa and South Australian standards, but what can you expect in Myanmar? The view is hard to beat, and I felt like I was transported back home. I have to give the winery some credit though— we both loved the Late Harvest and had a couple of glasses before slightly wobbling back to the village on our bikes.

The Song of Travel Hostel was putting on a 6-course dinner for 20 people for Christmas (for only 10,000 kyat which is less than $10). The cooks had never done a meal like this, let alone cook a Christmas meal. The evening was so much fun and the food we ate was phenomenal. We started with some crunchy Burmese fritters, sort of like Indian pakoras, paired with a rice alcohol and hibiscus infused cocktail. One course was a make-your-own tea leaf salad, followed by some Chinese Muslim chicken noodle soup. The main attraction was mouthwatering pork belly, which they got from a town 10 hours away just for this occasion.

Evan had hinted at a big surprise, but none of us were prepared for it. All of a sudden came a huge group of Burmese children singing Christmas carols. Everyone was so delighted and started to sing along. I can’t describe how precious these kids were. We were told that the kids came from one of the local orphanages, and they had been practicing these Christmas carols for days not knowing a single English word. Looking around I couldn’t see a dry eye in sight.

Christmas traditions from the various countries were shared among us. The two other Americans and myself had organized a white elephant exchange, which no one else had ever heard of. I realize how much I take for granted back home and how I expect other people in the world to know exactly what I’m talking about. Not the case at all. I’m now obsessed with the Danish tradition of holding hands and singing “nu det jul igen,” while running around the Christmas tree faster and faster.

The next day I was obviously not feeling great, but had an early start to do a day trek through the hills and villages around Inle Lake. Razaa, a small 20 year old Thai boy who spoke very broken English, was my guide for the day. He first took me to this secluded temple cave, marked by a white elephant statue outside. Nearby was a school for the novices, where I saw them playing outside. They are so happy and sweet.

Walking through the countryside with Razaa was really calming. It was blazingly hot but it was so nice to get outside and be active. Sitting, and eating a bunch of food while traveling for an extended period of time starts to make you feel very, very soft. He kept checking in and stopping to make sure I was okay, to which I responded with “I’m fine let’s keep going.” Reaching the village at 11am, he was very surprised at how fast we were going, saying that he usually reaches the village around 12:30pm. “You are strong woman!” he says to me. This might be one of my favorite compliments to date.

The villages we stopped at were so quaint. Everyone we passed by looked so happy and content with life. Compared to people back home who have so much, the Burmese villagers have so much less yet are infinitely happier. Lessons to be learned.

I’m just going to say this now— it is incredibly hard to keep updating this blog. I hardly ever want to be sitting inside, uploading pictures, and writing a blog post when I could be outside on an adventure, exploring, and meeting new people. I have a newfound respect for serious bloggers, because I now understand how much work this takes. I’m a month behind in my posts, but I promise I’ll try harder!

January 15, 2016
Boating around Inle Lake

Inle Lake was my natural next stop in Myanmar after Bagan. Many people do the 3 day trek into Inle Lake from Kalaw, but I decided to pass since I was running out of time. The lake, located in the Shan State region, is beautiful and serene. The livelihoods of the village people are completely centered around water.

Arriving on December 23, I was lucky to find a place to stay at the newly founded hostel, Song of Travel Hostel in Nyaung Shwe. This is the only hostel in the area and it was entirely booked— I clearly wasn’t the only one who thought spending Christmas on the lake was ideal. I quickly chatted up Evan who was working the reception desk. I learned he is also from San Jose, went to a high school not to far away me, and did speech and debate. Small world. I was really excited about the fact that we had most likely crossed paths at a speech tournament years ago. Speech nerds for life!

The obvious activity to do here is the boat tour around the lake. I first noticed that all the fisherman were rowing with a very distinctive style. They row by standing on one leg at the tip of the long boat with the other foot wrapped around an oar. How they manage to paddle with one foot, balance, and actually catch fish is beyond me.

Admittedly Inle Lake has become a bit of a tourist trap, and our boat driver took us to various areas of the lake with mostly shops. My group became increasingly frustrated and began to make sarcastic comments “oh look, more things to buy” every time we stopped. We wanted the real Inle Lake, not the tourist version. Don’t get me wrong, the lake was stunning, but I was more interested in discovering authentic Myanmar. You can try to tell your boat driver about specific places to visit, but they will usually just take you on the general tourist route around the lake. Plus, they don’t really speak English.

One of the stops was at an umbrella making workshop. Walking in, I saw a few women and girls with gold rings around their necks and limbs. People had said these long-necked women could be found in Inle Lake, and I was definitely curious. However, upon seeing them, I felt immense shame. These women were not from this area, and they had brought all the way here to be paraded around for tourists. If there is one thing I detest the most, it is people being shown off like spectacles. I felt really uncomfortable about the entire situation, so I took the time to speak with them and learn more about their way of life. I really was genuinely curious about why they wear the gold rings. After a while, I finally had the courage to ask if I could take a few pictures. With an extremely guilty look on my face I continued to repeat sorry and thank you. The ethics of this entire situation is very questionable and I realize I am most definitely a hypocrite for still taking part.

I felt a little bit better at the next stop where women were making textiles. This was genuinely very interesting to see how they created these intricate silks all from hand. Inle Lake is also home to lotus silk, which can’t be found anywhere else. One silk lotus scarf takes months to make, since they are harvesting silk strings from lotus flowers which they then spin into thread. The entire process is fascinating. Their method for making patterns on scarves was dumbfounding: the patterns are actually dyed onto a single strand of string prior to weaving. It’s really hard for me to explain, but all you need to know is that it’s ingenious.

The majority of villages around Inle Lake are very untouched, but for a less touristy experience it would be best to just bike around the entire lake instead. Still, I had such a wonderful time lazying around on the boat taking in the scenic views and seeing what life is like on the water. You do get the chance to stop at a number of temples on the lake which are beautiful. The villagers I saw on the long boats fascinated me, and it was so charming to see the wooden houses on stilts as we floated through the villages. After 8 hours of sitting on a boat, we were all exhausted and were grateful to watch the sunset over the lake as we cruised on back to Nyaung Shwe.

January 13, 2016
Monkeys on the Mountain

This almost seems like a which-came-first question, the monkey or the temple? So many temples I have visited have been deemed “monkey temples.” The first few monkeys are always really cute, up until the point they turn demonic: grabbing at your clothes, trying to open your bag, and stealing directly from your hand. Monkeys overrun the climb up to the temple at the top of Mount Popa. I’m proud to say that this did not phase me at all— trekking to Everest Base Camp has put me in great shape for any steep climb up.

Visiting Mount Popa was just a short day trip from Bagan, costing 9,000 kyat. I was weirdly/understandably very excited for the hike up. Exercise! Speeding past everyone else with time to spare, I snapped a bunch of photos of these cheeky monkeys.

Unfortunately the view from the top of Mt. Popa is lackluster. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by other stunning views I have seen, but the temple at the top unimpressed me. Surely this is a first world problem of a traveler.

What I did love most about this day trip was our pit stop at the oil, alcohol, and sweet making “factory.” A man was being rotated around by a cow that was pressing down peanuts into oil. Two women were reducing down huge vats of sugar which created this mouth-watering aroma. My group of tourists was noticeably excited about being able to sample all the different sweets they were making. I’m generally hesitant about Asian sweets, but Burmese caramel desserts are bomb. Went for the culture, stayed for the sweets.

Was Mt. Popa worth it? Probably not, it’s much nicer to just look at from a distance. At this point I had done all that was possible to do in the Bagan region, and I was now off to the much revered Inle Lake to celebrate Christmas.

January 12, 2016
Chasing Sunsets in Bagan

If you could only visit one place in Myanmar, then I would say it has to be Bagan. This ancient city is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. The views of both sunrise and sunsets are forever burned in my memory.

Bagan, although a major tourist destination, still has that untouched vibe that I love. I’m hoping the mandatory $20 fee will help to preserve its temples (though I firmly believe now that these fees are going to straight to the government and are not being used for improvements at all). I’m giving Bagan 3-5 years before it’s totally overrun by tourism. If there was a critical time to visit, that time is now. At its prime in the 11-13th centuries, Bagan used to have around 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries. Now you can see around 4,000 of them scattered across the land. Some massive and still active temples, and others that are tucked away and undiscovered.

Arriving by night bus from Yangon around 4am, I had no where to go since I had no hostel booked. Traveling around Myanmar by bus, you start to get used to being dropped off in the middle of the night somewhere random with no idea at all where you are. That, and lack of sleep, make for a fun morning adventure. I thought this would be the kind of place where I could just show up and find accommodation, but this is not that kind of town. I ended up just taggling along with two Canadian guys, Chris and Kurt, hoping that I could find a bed at the Mya Thida Guesthouse. After waiting for 3 hours in a terrible reception area where mosquitoes were eating me alive, someone decided to check out and I quickly jumped on my chance! I tell myself that this is the last time I’m going to show up somewhere without booking a hostel in advance to save myself some stress (not true).

Getting around Bagan is best by bike or scooter. Having never ridden a scooter before, I opted for a bike instead for 3,000 kyat (less than $3). Biking from New Bagan, where most people stay, to Old Bagan, I got to stop at whatever temple interested me. It amazed me just how many there were. I had passed by 20 already within 10 minutes. At one of the temples I was roaming around, a Burmese man came up to me and pointed to the top of a monastery. I definitely wanted to see Bagan from a viewpoint, but this seemed like one of those don’t-follow-strangers-into-dark-tunnels kind of situation. I considered this for about 2 seconds— then decided I didn’t care and it was probably a good idea anyway (sorry, Amma and Anu). Plus, I had yet to meet a Burmese person who was not friendly or honest.

Crawling up monastaries with my new tour guide

The view above Bagan is a completely different world from that below. My main goal was to find a secluded temple that I could climb up and watch the sunset from. This monastery wasn’t it, so the search would have to continue.

Biking around all day was making me ferociously hungry, so I stopped at a restaurant which had a funny sounding name: Be Kind to Animals the Moon. Odd name, but absolutely phenomenal food. Plus, entirely vegetarian. I went back three more times and told everyone I met to go here. I still say this is the best food I had in all of Myanmar. They should really be paying me for how much I marketed this restaurant. To be fair, I was right, and friends who visited Bagan said they also went back over and over again. Still dreaming about the tea leaf salad and coconut milkshake.

Tea leaf salad, pineapple curry, and traditional Burmese spices

Of course I run into Chris and Kurt at the Moon restaurant, and we decide to go explore some more before hunting for a large hidden temple with a fantastic view. After a leisurely ride to the waterfront, a local tips us off to the perfect sunset temple that isn’t explicitly mentioned on the map. It’s now around 5pm and we realize we have to book it to make it to this place. With a vague idea of directions, we find ourselves biking 5 miles through mainly tiny dirt backroads and fields trying to find this temple which we are not even sure actually exists. Racing against the sun, we finally see a large temple in the distance with only a few people climbing to the top. This has to be it! Extremely sweat and maybe a little out of breath, we climb up the stairs to the top to be rewarded with an incredible view. This is the Bagan you see in all the guidebooks and postcards.

Unfortunately as it got closer to sunset, the crowd of people thickened and more tour buses came in. What we thought was a secret was definitely not. There were around 75 people crowded around the temple, which was still less than the more popular temples with 200 to 300 people all fighting for the perfect sunset photo. Having so many people around detracts from the overall experience and ruins the mood. This is why it’s so imperative to visit Bagan now before it becomes too overcrowded.

The next day I was expectedly sore from a day’s worth of biking, so I rented a scooter instead to go even farther towards Nyaung U. I don’t know why I was so nervous about using a scooter because it is glorious. Why didn’t I do this sooner?! I was able to visit Htilominlo Temple and see so much more. Unfortunately these temples were more modern and overrun by Burmese people trying to get you to buy tourist products.

Disappointed by the crowd of people from the previous nights sunset, I made my through the backroads— only falling off my scooter once— to find a small temple with less than 10 people perched atop. Still not a temple all to myself, but good enough. The real hype though is for the sunrises, not the sunsets. My last day in Bagan was my last chance to see the sunrise. You find yourself telling people how long you’ve been in Bagan by number of sunrises and sunsets. I had seen 2 sunsets and 0 sunrises. I was clearly doing something wrong. Waking up at 5am, I sped through the dirt to make it to the Shwezigon Pagoda, which was when I was thrown off my scooter into the fields. Worth it. It’s surreal watching the sky turn colors and hearing the birds begin to chirp as you see the hot air balloons rising in the distance. The view is breathtaking and unlike anything else I have ever seen. Next time (when I have the money to spend $350), I’ll see Bagan from a hot air balloon, not the top of a temple.

January 10, 2016
Don’t Eat Street Food in Yangon

My first introduction to Myanmar, or Burma as it was previously called, was the bustling and very humid city of Yangon. Coming from the Himalayas, this was all a bit of a shock to me. Regardless, I was ready to explore this country that was relatively new to tourism. Myanmar has been closed off to the world up until a few years ago due to a tourism boycott. The country was under military rule and only recently switched to a democratic government. Myanmar is safe, but parts of the country are still restricted to foreigners. Aggressive militants can still be found in these areas. Since tourism is still so new, the Burmese are extremely friendly to tourists.Unlike Thailand and other countries that are overcrowded with tourists, the Burmese never tried to rip you off or shove stuff in your face to purchase. They are so welcoming and always willing to help. They love to practice their English with tourists so I often found myself having the most random conversations with Burmese people who would join me for walks around town.

Walking around Yangon I first noticed the all the street food (of course). I was very keen on trying as much as I could, something I would absolutely be paying for. Burmese food, in truth, is not that great. This was the general consensus from everyone I met. The food is bland and much too oily– it could just not compare to it’s tastier neighbor, Thailand. The only Burmese dish worth having, in my opinion, is tea leaf salad, which you could find just about anywhere. They use fermented tea leaves to make this semi-sour and spicy salad. Otherwise, order something else, like Thai or Indian. The country is an amalgamation of so many other cultures it seems so this is easy to do. Long story short, eating the street food here is the worst idea possible. I was told after the fact that Myanmar hygiene and sanitation is notoriously bad. Don’t want to throw up? Then don’t look at Burmese kitchens.

Around Yangon I continued to see women and children with yellow paint smeared all across their faces. I learned that this paint is called thanaka, which is a paste made from a tree. It has natural protection from the sun, cooling effects, and incredible skin benefits— they’ve been using this natural sunscreen for centuries! It doesn’t phase anyone to see this paste in designs on everyone’s faces. It’s quite fun.

Yangon’s biggest attraction is the Shwedagon Pagoda. It was easy an easy walk there from my hostel in Chinatown. Enormous, golden, beautiful, and impressive. It’s over 2,500 years old and is a very sacred site for Buddhists. I did find it hilarious to see so many monks walking around with their smartphones and taking photos. Even monks gotta selfie. #basic

Unfortunately Myanmar is expensive, by backpackers standards at least. There are very few hostels and for the ones that do exist, dorm rooms run about $12-20 per bed. Transportation around the country is mainly by bus, train, or flying. Taking the night bus, which is how I got around, was the cheapest way to go, but was still about $20-30. There were fees for all the temples and cities, between $10-20. Since tourism is so new it seems like the government is taking advantage of being able to charge foreigners however much they want. I could not stay in Yangon for long, it bored me quickly and I wanted to visit beautiful Bagan. I had heard so much about this ancient city, so I easily booked a night bus and made my escape!

January 9, 2016
Everest Base Camp: Days 8 – 14

Day 8: Dingboche to Lobuche (4940m)

Every day is getting increasingly more difficult. The oxygen level in the atmosphere is nearly 50% less. It’s hard to do anything. It wasn’t until now that I realize how much of a difference oxygen levels make. I found myself having such short breaths just getting out of bed and walking downstairs to breakfast. There is one very steep climb up (I am really struggling at this point) and the only thing keeping me going is realizing we only have one more day until we reach our destination! At the top of this hill I sit down and watch the many yaks surrounding us. We’re at a memorial area for all the sherpas and climbers who have died on their attempts up Everest. It’s sombering to realize how many people were so close, only to have their dreams cut short. Everest is dangerous, and all the climbers know that they’re risking their lives trying to make it to the top of the world.

By the way, it’s so cold in Lobuche that the water in the toilets are completely frozen, to the point that we had to break the ice to use them. Awesome.

Day 9: Lobuche to Gorak Shep (5164m), trek to Everest Base Camp! (5364m)

Today’s the day! We start our ascent to Gorak Shep, only 200m above Lobuche. Mostly flat, but I still feel very tired. The combination of low oxygen, lack of sleep, mild altitude sickness, and walking for hours every day was really catching up with me. I had no idea that altitude caused insomnia. Even being physically exhausted, I could never fall asleep immediately. When I finally did, I would wake up multiple times throughout the night. Altitude does weird things to you.

After making it to Gorak Shep, we eat lunch and get ready for base camp. From here, it’s two more hours of walking. We each buy a chocolate to eat in celebration when we reach. For myself, it’s a dark chocolate Toblerone, whereas everyone else gets Snickers (I don’t understand this). Switching from our heavy backpacks to our daypacks is always a marvelous feeling.

I feel as if we’re on another planet as we make our way to base camp. The terrain has completely changed from beautiful lush green with flowing rivers, to rocky and lunar-like. It’s incredible looking at the glaciers. Sabine, the guide who has now joined us, tells us to be very careful here. Apparently this is the most dangerous part of the trek. People have died in the past due to sudden avalanches or earthquakes.

Finally seeing the Everest Base Camp sign fills me with so much joy. There are hugs, high fives, and cheers all around. My grin is ear to ear. It’s emotional thinking about how hard we have all worked to get to this point. After 9 days of continuous uphill walking, struggle, pain, and freezing cold weather, we made it. It’s been one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life, both physically and mentally. It’s hard to describe the pride I felt looking up at Everest. Nothing could ever beat that feeling.

Day 10: Hike up Kala Patthar (5643m), descend to Periche (4371m)

I am so ready to head down. But before that, we have one more ascent up Kala Patthar mountain. I really don’t want to do this. This day is so much harder than the day before. People said the last two days were the hardest, and I have to agree. As we’re going up the mountain, I must have told myself a dozen times “I’m not going to do this. I want to quit.” The moment you start going up though, it’s hard to stop until you make it to the top. Sabine is literally pulling me up towards the end, as I’m crawling up this mountain. As always, the view is unbeatable. It’s really glorious to see. The Himalayas are one of the most magnificent sights in the world. We’re at 5643m, and we can see the top of Everest towering over everything else, which is still 3200m above us.

Day 11: Periche to Namche (3340m)

It’s crazy how fast we descend in comparison to how long it took us to go up. All our hard work gone out the door. Going downhill, we’re still walking around 6-8 hours. A group of people on their way up what I remember was a particularly bad stretch, looking miserable, ask me if it gets worse. Hate to break it to you, but yes, it does. But you can do it, and it’s so worth it!

Reaching Namche is so exciting, as it seems like the closet thing to civilization. We have wifi and good apple pie again! There’s a pub! Real toilets!

Day 12: Namche to Lukla (2850m)

The oxygen in the air is palpable. The feeling of being able to take a deep breath with ease— so satisfying. Walking down with big smiles on our faces, we pass by people who are at the beginning of their journey up. It’s a great feeling to be done, and we can’t help but feel this sense of “I know something you don’t” and “You have no idea what’s ahead of you.”

Day 13: Leave Lukla! Wait– just kidding.

Our flight back to Kathmandu is scheduled for 7:30am. We arrive 6:30am at this tiny little airport where there are apparently no rules or regulations. We have no idea what is going on or what is going to happen. It’s cloudy outside, which does not bode well for us. 8am comes and goes, then 10am… Several hours pass by and we’re still waiting. The clouds are not clearing up, and in fact, they are just getting worse. We’re starving, having not eaten breakfast thinking we’d grab a huge delicious lunch in Kathmandu instead. We look around for anyone who works at the airport only to find they have all gone home already. By 1pm the airlines announce that all flights have been canceled today. It’s extremely frustrating to have to wait until tomorrow. Weather has to be perfect in Lukla, Kathmandu, and one other airport in order for planes to fly. There are way too many variables that could prevent us from flying. Someone tells us there is forecast for snow for the next week which is horrifying news. Others tell us about people who had to wait for 4 extra days. I’m optimistic that this won’t happen, but it did not matter much to me. I did not have a flight back home to catch the following day.

Our options for coming home are still waiting and flying in the airplane, taking a private helicopter which would cost $3,000, or walking back to Jiri and then taking a jeep (another 3-5 days of walking). At this point we are seriously contemplating getting a helicopter instead if it comes down to it and are each researching our travel insurance policies to see which will cover it. Someone would need to fake being sick in order to get the helicopter rescue, and we’re told that this is totally normal to do. It’s Asia.

That night we decide to make the best of it, so we buy yak cheese, wine, apples, and some yak burgers. Surprisingly extremely good cheese, and one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.

Day 14: Flight from Lukla to Kathmandu

The sky is clear! It’s flying day! We’re back at the airport at a more reasonable hour (lesson learned). Fingers crossed, we wait by the windows hoping to hear the sound of a plane. Every time it comes, we get so excited, only to be disappointed to see a different airline. We’re scheduled for the second flight on Simrik Airlines, but our plane never arrives. Someone informs us that the wheel on our plane is broken. Of course this would happen to us. Again we’re waiting for hours, so nervous that the crystal clear weather will change any second. We could not bear to wait another day. Apparently they fixed the wheel on the plane, because we see it arrive! I remember when we first landed in Lukla how happy the people had been to board our plane. I completely understood why now. There are cheers all around. I can’t wait to finally shower and wear some clean clothes.

Boarding the plane, I’m genuinely sad to be leaving. It was going to be strange not having the crew with me all the time. We had such a set routine and had spent so much time together working towards a common goal. Looking back at the Himalayas while we’re in the air, I’m already planning when I will come back.

December 28, 2015
Everest Base Camp: Days 1 – 7

Day 1: Flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, Lukla to Benkar (2630m)

December 1, 6AM, we were at the airport ready to go. Flight tickets in hand, bags packed, and legs ready to walk. I was terrified for this flight. It’s a very short flight, less than 30 minutes, but you’re packed into a tiny propeller plane, and you have to land on one of the shortest runways in the world on the side of a mountain. Thrilling! We get onto the plane finally after a delay (which are apparently not uncommon: on our way back to Kathmandu we realized how lucky we were to get out of Kathmandu so quickly. Weather has to be perfect in both Kathmandu, Lukla, and one other airport in order to fly. The pilots need a cloudless view in order to land the plane and not crash into a mountain. So reassuring!!). The plane takes off and everything is going smoothly until we hit insane turbulence. This tiny plane is shaking violently and I am in complete panic that we are about to crash. Chris tells me to look at the air hostess, who is perfectly calm. If she panics, I should panic. Fair enough. With tears in my eyes I eventually calm down once I see the Himalayas. I feel more zen than I ever have. I’m holding my breath as we’re landing on this extremely short runway. We’re safe! Once we’re ushered out of the tiny plane we’re on our way!

We trek for about 8 hours to the town of Benkar, all the while I feel like I’m walking through the shire. The villages are incredibly picturesque, and the high suspension bridges over the aqua water are stunning. Everyone we see who is walking down looks happy as can be. It makes us feel like this is going to be a wonderful trek since everyone is smiling so much (we learn the truth later as to why this is)!

Day 2: Benkar to Namche Bazaar (3440m)

I can’t accurately describe how beautiful this trek was. The weather has been crystal clear and I actually have to peel off all my layers. At one point we run into Chris, who has lost Lisa. We fear the worst. After waiting a while and looking for her off of cliffs (seriously), we are optimistic that she just walked all the way to Namche. This was the beginning of extremely strenuous uphill hiking. For about 3 hours we walk uphill, and not going to lie, it was miserable. It was getting cold very quickly and we needed to get to Namche before dark. Eventually we make it and collapse into what becomes our favorite bakery: the Everest Bakery. Tea and coffee, freshly baked goods, and most importantly, free wifi!!! Glued to my phone, I update myself on the outside world and eat the best apple pie in the Himalayas (I know this to be true because from then on we had apple pie in every village just to see which one had the best. Verdict is still Namche). We stay at a fantastic lodge and drink our favorite tea, ginger lemon honey. I spent way too much money on tea during this trek, probably about $5 every day.

Finding our way on the map

Namche Bazaar from above

Day 3: Acclimatization Day in Namche Bazaar, day hike to Hotel Everest View (3880m)

At 3800m many people start to feel the effects of the altitude. An acclimatization day is absolutely necessary here. Ola was not feeling well this day so he did not join us on the hike. AMS is a big deal and it’s important to not push it if you’re not feeling well. It’s okay to get AMS, it’s not okay to die from AMS. One thing about rest days is that they are not rest days, you still walk a fair amount uphill. We do our acclimatization walk to the Hotel Everest View, which is the tallest hotel in the world. Funnily, people who go here usually fly in to this altitude and then immediately fall sick because they have not acclimated at all. Silly tourists.

The view at the Everest View Hotel… can’t see Everest.

Day 4: Namche Bazaar to Debuche (4100m)

We leave for Debuche on this day, and Ola stays in Namche to rest up and get over the AMS. The rest of the day is so. Much. Uphill. Help. I’m not sure how I did it, but you just keep going. At the end of it your mind just tricks you into thinking it wasn’t really that bad. Then you do it again the next day. A quick stop at the monastery in Tengboche at the top of the hill is your reward.

Tengboche monastery at the end of an incredibly long, hard walk uphill

Day 5: Debuche to Dingboche (4410m)

Today we accidentally skip lunch. This is a huge mistake. Walking for 6 hours without fuel is suicide. Don’t do this. The “village” we intended to eat lunch in, which consisted of two lodges, was completely shut down. Mohammed was a life saver for sharing his Clif Bars. I have never loved a Clif Bar so much in my life.

Day 6: Acclimatization day in Dingboche, day hike to some mountain (5300m)

People in Nepal are straight crazy. You think you are cool for hiking to base camp, but no, you are not. Everything is ten times more extreme. The guide for the Spanish Guys (we came up with names for all the groups we saw along the trek. The Aussie Gingers were my favorite), who we’ll call Angelo, has done the Everest marathon. That’s right— EVEREST MARATHON. Others have climbed up to 6,000m or more. Trekking to EBC is easy business for the locals. While the guides are skipping up the mountain, the rest of us are having a very difficult time. We get our lesson in local culture regarding the Sherpas. Sherpas are an ethnic group in the Himalayas. I’m 100% positive now that they have evolved completely differently. They are completely acclimated to the altitude, can carry tons on their backs (uphill, for hours and hours), need no water, and can be essentially barefoot in freezing rivers and snow. They are a different breed of human who own the mountains.

We do an acclimatization hike up almost 1000m to a beautiful mountain, the name of which I can’t remember. I thought this was never going to end but we eventually made it up to the top. As always, it was worth the pain and struggle.

At night we await Ola. Perched on the windowsill of our lodge, we watch the groups of people coming over the hill. Ola Watch continues for two hours, until we concede that he’s not coming 🙁

The view at the top! 5300m

Still so far from Everest

Day 7: Acclimatization day in Dingboche, day hike to Chukhung (4700m)

Lo and behold, look who appears, Ola! We made a pact to stay if Ola showed up, so we do. He is feeling good, so he does his hike up the mountain as we do our second acclimatization walk to Chukhung. Initially we feel great, but somehow we all get hit with massive dizziness and nausea once we arrive. A combination of walking too fast, no breaks, and little water makes us all sick and I see the world spinning as we wait for our food. We order garlic soup, which is said to be help for altitude sickness. Placebo or not, it works a bit. This is the first time I really feel AMS and understand how debilitating it is. After this point, I get a headache that would not go away for the rest of the trek. Everyone gets this, but you just learn to live with it.

December 7, 2015
Everest Base Camp: Pre-Trek

Hands down this has been the highlight of my trip so far. I remember reading about the Everest Base Camp trek and totally psyching myself out. It seemed so difficult, too expensive, and way too hard to plan. I figured I would just do another trek like the Annapurna Circuit or a shorter week-long trek. I kept asking people in Nepal what to do: Annapurna or Everest. Annapurna would be beautiful as you trek through multiple terrains and go through many different villages, but Everest would be an achievement (and also still beautiful since you’re trekking through the Himalayas). It’s Everest. Who can say they have trekked to Everest Base Camp? Of course being me, that’s what sold me on it. I can’t describe how badly I craved that accomplishment. I could not get this out of my head.

I did not book a trek online, which was the right choice. Going through a pre-organized trekking service was lame and it was absurdly expensive online ($1500-3000) It seemed easy enough and cheaper to book in Kathmandu on arrival. Yes and no. I was immediately overwhelmed by the ridiculous number of travel and trekking agencies. I had no idea how to get a guide, if I needed one, if I needed porters or not, or if it was even possible for me to do EBC. I had NO gear whatsoever. I was only planning on traveling to warm countries, and here I was about to trek in the snow. No hiking shoes, no jacket, no gloves, nothing. Luckily most other people are as unprepared as I was when they get to Kathmandu trying to plan a trek, and everything can be figured out there, from gear to flights, from permits to itinerary, and from finding a guide to finding a trekking group.

View from the plane

On my second day in Kathmandu I met up with Lisa, from Sweden, and Mohammed, from Egypt, for breakfast, whom I had both met on trekkingpartners.com (yep, this is a real thing and a legitimately great resource). They had both posted about EBC and wanted to leave around the same time I did. I dragged Chris, from England, whom I had met in my hostel room, along with me who was also considering doing EBC. We were also joined by Ola, from Norway, who Lisa had met randomly. Somehow, having nothing planned or booked at all, in less than 24 hours of breakfast the five of us were on a flight headed to Lukla to begin our trek!

We had two options to get to Lukla: take a jeep to Jiri then walk 3-6 days to Lukla, or fly directly into Lukla for around $200-300. We took the latter option, as Mohammed and Chris had a tight deadline for flights back to Europe (if you have a tight budget and more time, the former option is also excellent). We had to finish the trek in 12-14 days in order for them to make it. Some people do EBC for much longer, up to 20 days, but they add additional acclimatization days or trek to other places, like Gokyo Lakes and do Chula Pass. I would have loved to do these, but 14 days of trekking was enough for me. We decided to follow the 12 day itinerary found on the Everest app, which was actually very helpful and high quality. Theoretically you could trek around the Himalayas for months. I met one girl who trekked totally alone for 1.5 months. It’s totally up to you what you want to see— there is so much to see.

Our tiny little propeller plane

I was able to buy all my gear that same day: hiking shoes which I prayed would get me through the trek, a four season sleeping bag, down jacket, walking stick, thermals, gloves, etc. There’s a ton of fake NorthFace and Patagonia and everything related to hiking gear can be purchased right there. If I did it again though, I would bring good quality gear from home, especially shoes. I lucked out that my shoes lasted, but I met someone whose shoe soles broke off by midday. I only packed the essentials, and I repeated all of my clothes during the entire trek. rotated between two long sleeve hiking shirts, the same 3 pairs of trekking socks, 6 pairs of underwear, 3 sport bras, one pair of thermals, and one trekking pant. I had no clean clothes and I was sweating profusely in them from all the walking. It was gross.

We ran around Kathmandu to get permits for the Everest trek. We barely made it before closing time, but for 2000 rupees we got our trekking permits to Everest! In between that time we also purchased our flights to Lukla through an agency ($308 roundtrip, which is the cheapest you can get, especially due to the fuel crisis), who set up our flights for 7AM the following day, with an open return ticket. We weren’t exactly sure when we’d be coming back so it was best to just leave it open and just call two days ahead of arriving back in Lukla.

We decided not to hire porters to carry our bags or get a guide. A porter would cost $5-10 a day, and a guide $20 a day. We were all capable human beings who can carry our own things. Plus, I would feel way too guilty making someone else carry my heavy bag. With five of us, it would be easy to figure it out on our own and we could watch out for each other. We had maps and we downloaded the Everest app with our planned itinerary (though if I was trekking alone I would have absolutely hired a guide. Much, much safer just in case anything happened). We were gonna do this real adventure style!!

A cliff… and an extremely short runway

December 2, 2015