Besides personal equipment—a sleeping bag, rucksack, clothes, tent, cameras, a medical kit (including ointments for aches and sprains and crepe bandages)—trekkers need their passport, driving licence (mentioning the blood group) and credit cards.
Kathmandu offers a lot of trekking gear and foodstuff, such as chocolates, nuts, dry fruits and Iodine tablets to purify water. Stock up on socks, gloves and caps in Thamel.
When it comes to company, it’s each to his own. While some prefer strangers, Das has been trekking with his school friend Srijit Dasgupta for 20 years. “We’ve done more than 20 treks together. I find it makes things much easier if you’re with a friend. You need people on the team who are fit and mentally prepared to complete the trek. There’s no exit route halfway and no room for tantrums,” says Das.
While a Sherpa is not essential, many people, especially trekkers new to the slopes, do engage a porter-cum-guide to travel light and have some back-up. The trek can be difficult in places and the weather turns nasty without warning. “No sooner do you reach the top of a hill than you have to go down again and then up again. Snowstorms and white-out conditions are common and a sunny walk can suddenly turn into a nightmare,” says Das. “A good thumb rule is to set out by 7am and get into camp by 2pm or 3pm instead of sunset,” he adds.
After fitness, acclimatization is the most important thing on the Everest trail. “I followed a rigid acclimatization routine for all three Everest treks—two days of doing nothing other than walks at Namche Bazaar or Khumjung (around 3,000m to 3,500m) and one more day around 4,000m. This usually works,” he says.
Das has known trekkers who had to be evacuated by helicopter from the Everest region— which costs thousands of dollars—because of mountain sickness brought on by bad acclimatization. “The funny thing about mountain sickness is that it hits you out of the blue. You may be fine in the morning and climb 3,000ft in the day and, by evening, you may have a headache, nausea and insomnia. If so, you need to rest at that altitude and if things don’t get better, you need to come down, not go up,” he advises.
Because the trail is popular with both “package hikers” and serious mountaineers, the accommodation available is good, compared with the Indian Himalayas. “Some lodges actually have water to flush down the loo, and hot showers (read tepid) are occasionally available for 100 Nepali rupees,” says Das. The food is decent too: dal-chawal, noodle soup and local takes on pizzas and pasta, besides tea, coffee and eggs. “What more do you need on a trek?” he asks.
Perhaps a phone to call home? On the way up, Namche Bazaar is the last spot from where you can make a call, and Das makes it a point to ring home once before the trek and once after.
But unlike the treks in India, one is never really alone on the Everest trail. There are fellow trekkers, local people, yaks, herdsmen and porters. It’s not really a wilderness trek in the true sense.