“Hey friend, we are organising a team to climb Everest Base Camp together. Are you interested?”

This came from a team of amateurs who knew each other from the outdoor activity club, ROVERS, from National University of Singapore. The highest altitude I had climbed prior to this trip was 1700m, but I said yes to my friend instantly. “I am an active athlete at sea level, this wouldn’t be any problem for me..” …or so I thought till I was there, struggling with every step forward from the height of 2790m all the way to 5550m. But, it’s a trip of no regrets.

“We may not be at the top of the world, but the top of the world stands before us.”

This is our story of climbing to Everest Base Camp.

Dec 15–16
Arriving at Kathmandu and taking the flight to Lukla

Preparing the necessary gear and equipment in the hotel we stayed in, for the first and only night.

This was taken from plane cockpit. The landing is basically an upslope leading towards the mountain. If the plane fails to land, we crash. If the plane loses control due to the strong high altitude wind, we crash. If the plane loses pick-up with the thin atmosphere, we crash. A plane taking off from this airport would be basically going down the ramp, so it will also crash in the case of a takeoff failure.

Nonetheless, we were lucky that day.

Dec 17–19
Namche Bazar, Tengboche Monastery

This kid was running around catching the chicken while we gasped for air in the thinning air.

Namche Bazar - one of the biggest village we rested at to acclimatise to the altitude before going further. We stayed there for two nights.

There was another team from Singapore that went before us, and were making their way back home. We met them at the pub here and listened to their stories and advice. We couldn’t stop thinking about the torturous days ahead of us, and dreamed about being able to drink in the bar and brag about the glorious experience, just like them.

The walls of the pubs and hostels are all filled with t-shirts, signatures, flags, pictures, posters, inspirations and success stories from previous hikers. These certainly inspired us to keep going, and anticipate returning after having reached the peak.

For the night, we had to hide in the blanket and sleeping bag to keep ourselves warm. Our guide pointed to a side of the mountain that, according to him, hosts a five-star hotel that was owned by the Japanese. It would be a place for those who can afford to pay for a helicopter, and to see Everest without climbing.

The climb got more serious from this point onwards.

Dec 20–22
Dingboche, Lobuche

All this while, we have been keeping to the practice of protecting our water and valuables in our sleeping bags to keep them warm. The morning we woke up at Dingboche at 4530m would be the point onwards where everything freezes at night.

These hundreds, or maybe thousands of rocks arranged in a row across the tracks are all inscribed.

While everyone was resting in the lounge with the heater, I dived into the cold to capture a time-lapse of the sky. You can view the video at the end of this story. The cloud looks like jellyfish at some point of time.

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.

~The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The movie wasn’t out by the time we climb, I made this inspiration quote much later after the climb.

The mountains are to be respected and not to fool your lives with.

As mentioned before, the highest altitude I had experienced before this was 1700m. I was at this point feeling sick, noxious, headachey and had difficulty breathing (as can be heard in this video).

Next, the video of ‘how to break the ice and flush’.

I was so unused to the air that I could hardly breathe or sleep. The wind increases in intensity when night falls and listening to its storminess, I felt that the wooden lounge would fall at any point of time. Just listen to the sound of this clip taken in the dark:

Dec 23–25
Gorak Shep, Kala Patthar, Everest, Merry Christmas

This would be the day to reach Everest Base Camp. The plan is to wake up at 4am, climb as fast as we can to the top of Kala Patthar, or ‘The Black Mountain’, where it is said to have the best view of Everest at 5550m. We would then make our way down to the base camp which is right beside, and return to this rest point thereafter.

We were all quite energetic at the prospect of achieving our goal.

We reached Gorak Shep to have lunch — but too late to make the trip to the base camp itself. We were quite disappointed but consoled ourselves with the fact that this would be the highest altitude we would have ever climbed in our lives.

Along the way up we met our friends, a British Team. They had already reached the summit and were on their way down. According to them when they reached, a Sherpa was forcing himself to climb but ended up so sick that he had to be carried away via helicopter. With this subduing story, we proceeded with respect and care.

This is when we were half-way up the Black Mountain. The black-tipped mountain in the distance is the elusive Everest.

Visit here for more photo quotes.

Objective accomplished. The wind is powerful and chilling, we couldn’t stay for long on the top. We quickly took some photos while carefully not to fall off the cliff or drop the camera, and we made our way down. It’s supposed to be much easier going back down than coming up, but we have to be quick if not we have to walk in the dark till we return to our lounge.

Dec 25–30
The return home

Christmas carol on the Christmas Eve with the team from England and Australia.

After the night of celebration on the Christmas Eve with the British team, everybody went to bed after a satisfying meal. 7am in the morning, this Australian guy walks to the center of the lounge and shout “HO HO HO! Merry Christmas!”

I hope you enjoy this series of photographs. I’ve come to realise that the plot that drives Chinese martial art novels and even the comedy, Kung Fu Panda, remains true (the Kung Fu master always stays on top of the mountain!). However, it’s really about the journey — it is the training, pilgrimage, and the sharpening of mind, body and soul.

Why do I say that? I’ve been to rural developing countries, home stays; I’ve almost been robbed and even have slept with homeless on the streets before. Still, you can afford to be poor and lazy in those places. But those living at Himalayas can afford to be poor but not lazy. Living here, means that extra effort has to be put in for even simple everyday tasks — collecting drinking water, bathing, cooking, washing, changing and building. Everyone, whether man or woman, young or elderly, has to put in extra effort in order to survive and live.

I have great respect for the Himalayas and the people who are living there. Always learn with an empty cup. Respect others and they will give you the same respect in return.

Lastly, a video tribute to everyone I met along this trip. Thanks to my teammates for organising and helping each other in need.