Everest base camp

Hey Mark, I've booked on this, getting a bit nervous already reading about the suspension bridges!! Andrea

Hi Andrea,I'm sure the bridges will be fine. I hope so anyway!! I'm getting excited about the trip even tho there's a long while before we go.

yeah, still a few months to go but I can't getting excited. Starting training properly next week, looks like a long haul old walk!

I've been going on a few long walks trying to wear me boots in,and down the gym. I'll probably be to knackered come sept lol.

Know what you mean, feel tired just thinking about it! Buying new boots tomorrow then I will be doing the same. I live oopp north so walking mainly in lakes and north Wales. Get me some hills in!! What about you ?

I'm down south,bit flat so big hills are a bit of a rarerity.

I did some walking on the south downs last year - some small hills there!! I need to buy some boots then decide where to walk.. Snowdon is always lurking... like the walk up but not keen on the summit cafe crowds. Think you need to be able to walk for a long time, not over concerned abour mountain training.. just going to get distance in I reckon

I think I'll be fine as I'm relatively fit. If not then I'll hire a donkey! Once I stick my iPod on I'll go into the zone!

Still got a few months to get fit enough... I hope!  iPOD will be a necessity I think..

I'm thinking about booking the everest base camp trek in September and will be travelling solo. Can I ask why you've chosen Exodus ? There are loads of companies and I really don't know how to choose the best one. Thanks for your thoughts.

Steve.

Hi Steve,I haven't travelled with exodus before but my friend has and she had good things to say.There are lots out there but these seem ok,I have bombarded there live chat with questions and they have been very helpful.May see you there then! And Andrea,defo on the iPod!

Hi Steve, I have done an Exodus trip before, found them to be excellent with regards to organisation and being able to answer the many questions I had before my last trip.  Didn;t chose them for any compelling reason over any other company, but now I've been on one trip had no hesitation booking with them again.  Go for it!!!

Hi Everyone,

I an Linda, Looking forward to the trip. I am scared of the  bridges but hope someone else on the trip can hold my hand. I live in the North East, a few miles down from Geordie Land. The highest cliff on the north east coast is two miles from me. I will holpfully get fit going up it. Looking forward to meeting you all.

Linda

Im sure you'll be fine on the bridges,keep yer eyes closed!!!See you there.

We'll have to help each other over the bridges.. I booked this before I realised how many there were... serioulsy not looking forward to that bit AT ALL!! Eyes closed or crawling may be an option but we will get over them!! Looking forward to meeting everyone.. xx

All booked so the anticipation is really kicking in. Not been with Exodus before but they have a great reputation. Can't believe I'll be in the Himalayas in less than 6 months - exciting !

It's all very exciting, and a little bit daunting! Ive been following the walking with the wounded guys trip on Facebook and it looks amazing. Lots of training still to do for me ..

Just been reading all the comments & interested to see Linda123 is from up north-well so am I!! You are probably not far from where I am.Hav`nt done anything like this before but quite excited about the trip.Have joined the gym to try & build strength,but not enjoying the experience much!! Had a lovely walk along thecliffs between Staithes & Sandsend yesterday-about 10mls.Raining & miserable when we set off but sun came out & views were lovely.My 1st trip with Exodus but going with friend who has travelled with them before & has good things to say about them.Would realy like to know about the tea houses we will be staying in on route-how basic are they & will it be realy cold @ night?!!

Hi Christine, hope you are well and totally sympathise with the training experience, I'm doing outdoor bootcamps 4 times a week and gym stuff, walking when I can and it's all a bit of a grind! This will be my second epic adventure with Exodus, managed to crawl up to the summit of Kilimanjaro last September so as I'm back for more I think I've just blocked out summit night!  As far as tea houses go, my friend did this trip a few years back - she said they are pretty basic but one up from the tents I was in on Kili. The nights do get very cold, I hired an Exodus Sleeping bag which kept me toasty warm, and towards the end of the climb pretty much slept in ALL my clothes as it snowed on Summit night it was freezing!!  Gloves, warm hat, down jacket are a must - I didn't spend a lot on mine (£50) and hated the thing - so am going to invest in one I like- but not too expensive. I also got some decent thermals which I slept in for the first few nights.  I'm up north too, but over in Cheshire so North Wales and the pennines are good for my training.  Am pretty worried about stamina, altitude, and the length of this trip  - priority will be to make sure we get sleep, that we drink enough (I was drinking 5-6 litres a day not including tea,) and that I at some point get to wash my hair!! After 6 days on Kili it was disgusting - hidden at all times by a hat.. lol.  Anyway, that's enough of my rambling, look forward to meeting up.!  Sorry- just one more thing - I've chosen to fly from Manchester and not on the group flights - anyone else or are you all out of London? x

Hi all

sorry to butt in, I did the EBC trek last year and it was an amazing experience, flying into Lukla is fantastic, youve probably seen the videos online, the runway is small but the pilots are amazing!

 the bridges arent as bad as you think  once youve done one the rest are easier.

dont go too fast and you should be ok,  and suntan cream is a must esp if you have snow, the tea houses are quite basic and the rooms do get cold, and as for clean hair lol well i washed mine in glacier melt, its not something i'd do again in a hurry.

But what an experience! i'm really envious of you all 

:o)

Glacier melt... hmmm I'll take that if it means clean hair! I intend walking very slowly, and just getting to each sop in 1 piece. How did you manage sleep wise? and other thing, what about clothing for 12 days - do you get a chance to wash anything or is febreeze the answer  sorry I sound obsessed with hygiene but was filthy at the end of Kili and that was only 6 days!! Did you have enough room in your kit bag for enugh clothes? Wet wipes are a must I assume as well??!!

sleeping wasnt a problem as i was very tired at the end of the day,  mightve worn 3 pairs trews and 4 baselayers, I wouldnt worry about washing anything as everyone is gonna be in the same boat, but deoderant is good, and wet wipes loads of them 

I didnt have a shower for 11 days and it wasnt too bad, but it was bliss when i finally did get a shower.

toilets are a bit smelly as you have to bin the loo roll, ( we used a buff with some airfreshner on it over our faces) the closer you get to Gorak Shep the more chance you have of using a asian squat style toilet

I know what you mean about kili, its very dusty esp if you did the Rongai route (thats the one we did) but the EBC trek isnt  so you might not get too dirty 

anything else just ask :o)

 

Hi,couple of things to pick yer brains.Is there any essentials that you could advise on or anything that you wished you had taken?What are trews? And what's the weather like in day/night.will it be hot t-shirt in day? Or cold? How many layers did you wear,I don't normally feel the cold to bad.Were going end sept! Cheers. Mark

So if I pack along the lines for kili I should be right. 3 pairs if trousers, 1 zip off for lower walking. I had 3 baselayers as well, guess it's just recycling clothes around. And as you said, we'll all be smelly !! Loads of wet wipes and a washy wash!! Did you take diamox??

Sorry I did mean trousers, always write trews. Zinc oxide sunscreen and a small pot of E45 cream, I got really badly burnt on my face, we had snow going from pheriche and the sunscreen I took wasn't good enough. It does get warm in the day I got to EBC wearing trousers and a baselayer but I did wear thermals for bedtime. As for diamox we had some left over from kili but we didn't need it, mint tea, ginger tea and a headache tablet helped with any altitude problems we had :o)

We have.. Mark, Myself (Andrea), Linda, Mike, Christine:  trip seems sold out on the website. Be good to get to know some others before the trek. Getting increasingly nervous... xx

Ive just got back from the Everest Base Camp trek. You will all love it its a great experience, we stayed at base camp for 2 nights. Dont worry about the bridges they look worse than they are

 

If anyone has any questions about the trek im happy to answer them

I have some questions.. :-)  What's a typical days walk like, I am presuming the pace will be quite slow, I'm just wondering how tough it actually was each day? I've read the walk to Namche is a killer? Just hoping I'll be able to keep up!!

Walking each day is around 4-8 hours. As we stayed at Base Camp for 2 nights our itinerary was be abit different to yours, but the pace is really really slow, and if you struggle you can stop whenever you want and the leader or sherpa will stay with you until you're ready to carry on. You stop every few hours for a drink or something to eat anyway so the walking isnt that tough really.

Yea the last few hours to Namche is really hard as its uphill and you climb quite steeply but again the pace is very slow with lots of stops if you need them.

You will notice altitude kick at Namche and walking a few steps makes you out of breath. This is normal so dont worry if you suddenly feel unfit from Namche onwards, and near the top you have no choice to take it slow as the lack of oxygen means you're out of breath most of the time while walking. 

 Providing you have a good level of fitness you shouldnt have a problem tho, i really enjoyed the trekking each day, even on the longer walking days. Take it slow, enjoy the views and have fun :)

One other thing, take trekking poles. Exodus say you dont need them, and a few on our trek didnt use them, but from personal experience they're a godsend. There are a few scary downhill sections on the way back, and the poles just give you that extra support

Hi Paul,what's your take on equipment etc.Did you find anything that you could of done with but didn't have? How much gear did you go through,t-shirts trousers etc.Did you wear your coat much,(were going in sept). Cheers,just wanna Akers sure we have right gear and don't overload on stuff that won't be used. Oh and how big was your day pack. Thanks Mark

Hi Mark

I took alot of equipment i didnt use.  My rucksack was 35 litres which is probably just about right, but there was more stuff i didnt use that i took. I took 3 base layers (dont bother with cotton if you can help it, it holds the sweat in) and 4 pair of walking trousers and 3 pairs of good walking socks. All got used and although i was probably abit smelly, everyone is in the same boat so no one cares. Down jacket is a must as its cold at night and at base camp, and so is a wolly hat as you need to wear one to sleep in to stop headaches. I took a waterproof jacket but it never got used really, only snowed abit at base camp, rest of trip was sunny.

Its best to take too much though, can always leave what you dont need at the hotel in Kathmandu. Make sure you have a headtorch too as alot of lodges have little to no lighting other than the main eating/living area. Dont bother with purification tablets, all lodges have bottled water.

Only thing i wish i had taken was some trainers (i had them but couldnt fit them in my kitbag). After a long day walking, its nice to get out of your walking boots and into something more comfortable. 

Hope that helps, let me know if you have more questions :)

Thanks for that Paul,I'll prob think of other things as an when it comes to me.

Hi Paul,Because you have already done the biz wondered if you could advise on how much cash we will need. It says in the trip notes about £35 per day-but is that for localy made food or imported food.I would be up for eating local food eaten by the locals-cant see the point of going anywere,not just Napal,& eating food you get @ home!! Its part of the experience! Must say not looking forward to the toilet & non shower experiences! Would you advise us to exchange sterling to Nepales rupees before we leave England or exchange cash in Katmandu?    Jumping the gun a bit-on our return we land into Heathrow @ 6:30 inthe evening & by then will be dying to get home as quickly as poss,were there any hold-ups do you remember? I & Linda live in North east & would like to book train as cheaply as poss so when the cheap train journeys become available I can get us onto one.My prob is do you think we could book a train from London Kings Cross dep @ about 9pm & be able to catch it- was thinking to get Heathrow express to Victoria then tube to kings cross-think the express takes about 20 mins. looking forward to any answers anyone can provide.Getting excited about the trip-never done anything remotely anything like this before-a bit scared also!!!

Hi

Our leader told us to take £400 on the trek with us. That doesnt including the rest days before and after in Kathmandu tho. For them add another £20-30 per day. You have to get the money exchanged over there (its illegal to get it outside of the country, also make sure you change it back before you board the plane otherwise you wont be able to after that). Plenty of places in Kathmandu and Namche to exchange tho. If you're a drinker then it can be more costly, as a small can of beer on trek is about £3. On trek you eat in the teahouses which all have freshly made food. Ranges from Momo (dumpling) which is a Nepalese dish, to rice, pasta, meat etc. There is enough there for any tastebuds. If you do eat meat, try Yak, its very nice and there isnt a problem eating meat as its all well cooked

You can shower in most lodges, and some lodges have western style toilets, others just a hole in the ground!

Regarding the flights, ours were ontime but we landed at the same time as you, and the last train home to Yorkshire was 10pm, so we didnt want to risk it incase of delays. Instead we got a hotel overnight (personally i think 2 flights and a long train home is too much to do in 1 day), so the break in the hotel was nice.

One word of advice, take English money in cash with you. Most ATM's in Kathmandu have a daily limit of something like £70, which is far less than you need. So take all the money in cash and exchange in one of the many exchange places in Kathmandu. I had never done anything like this before but loved it! Hope that helps

 

Hi Paul,thought of something,did you get visa out there and was it easy?how much etc. Thanks.

Hi

Yea just get it there, simple enough form to fill in on arrival and then wait in the queue. Cost £30 i think for a 30 day Visa. 

Cheers

Hi Christine, If I were you I'd not risk getting that evening train, if you land at 6.30, there's a good chance you won't clear immigration and baggage for at least 45 mins, especially if it's a busy flight. You'll be panicking, I did this once and did make the train, but the stress of worrying about time kind of ruined the end of the holiday for me. I'm not on the group flights, am flying with Ehiad out of Manchester so will be billy no mates until I meet up in Kathmandu!  Paul, thanks for the advice about money, especially about taking cash!

Hi, so it's almost time to pay which means it's really happening! And not long at all now.. hope everyone's training is going well. Mine's been a bit hit and miss what with work and the awful weather but am going to step it up now for the last few weeks.x

Hi,I know,it's not long now.My training has been more miss than hit lately,although I have been sporty because of the euros,Wimbledon and soon the Olympics!! Not sure that counts!Am looking forward to it though.

Yeah, I feel like I've been doing virtual training, watched most of the euros, and am looking forward to the Olympics. Just back from a VERY muddy T in the Park weekend - I walked miles ankle and then knee deep in mud for three days - hoping that counts! Although think the wine I drank may have cancelled it out. Really looking forward to it, if I'm the slow one at the back I don't really mind.. :-)

hi everyone, sorry i have been a bit lax getting on here, but will also be coming along to EBC - I am another Linda. Training on hold and full of flu this week :( still, have 50 odd days now to get it sorted (Im a bit last minute!). Have done Kili in 09 with Exodus so excited to be doing this trip with you all. Am flying from Heathrow on 21 Sept. Linda x

 

Hi another Linda, we'll have to come up with some new names on the trek ;-)  I'm also a kili graduate, but am getting the feeling this one will be much tougher - certainly in time and distance covered. I'm now starting to panic training wise, and have come up with a 7 week plan - all I need to do is follow it! Still think I'll be bringing up the rear - but as you know from Kili that's not such a bad place to be.... whatever the Nepalese is for pole pole will be my new mantra! I've a general question around what medical stuff people are bringing and if anyone has had the doctor travel chat yet? In the Trekking in the Himalayas book I've finally bought it mentions about pre-emptive anti-biotics for stomach problems, gardia etc etc. Anyone discussed as yet with their GP? Think I am up to date injection wise but am going to make at appt to check?

I wouldnt bother taking anything pre-trek with you. When i was there the guide has a massive medical kit with everything you could possible need. Anti-biotics, laxatives, pain killers and diamox for altitude sickness.

Some of our group did start taking Diamox before they left, but ive been told by docs to only take it when needed, and your guide will have some if you do. You will almost get some stomach problems (think all 15 people including me on our trek did), but there is little you can do about it. Your guide will take good care of you though so dont worry

Hi Paul, thanks for that, good to know. Am starting to finally read up on what I need to bring/worry about and I am getting worried. :-)  As you suggest I'll leave the medical stuff to the guides, as they are the experts on the mountain..   A

No problem. Its still worth taking some basic stuff of your own (painkillers, Imodium, cream etc) but the other stuff the guide will give you as and when

Also anti-bacterial hand gel is your friend. Take plenty of that and use it alot. Thats about all you can do to stop a dodgy stomach

Hi, Yes lots of that on the packing list, and a lot of strepsils in there as well..  Just back from a painful climb up Snowdon... am a little concerned now. Going again next weekend and the weekend after but that was hard work. Hope everyone elses training is on track... I will be the slow coach at the back based on today. :-(

hi guys,  looking foward to the trip in sept,  live in Ireland , will be flying from heathrow, sept 21st,

 Training mostly in the gym over the summer with the crap weather we are having.  Got a few walks in over the last few weeks and hope to get some more in.  Lots of aches and pains but no pain no gain.

Is anyone planning to use the exodus  kit bag for their luggage,   those of you who have travelled with exodus before is this advisable?