Everest Base Camp Trek - Eyewitness Account, Breathing is Fundamental

It has been said that getting there is half the fun. Sometimes when you are sitting on a crummy and cramped bus for 12 hours in Burma, China or Laos it is hard to keep that in mind or to even believe that this statement has any basis in reality at all. However, in the case of getting to Everest Base camp you can see and feel the absolute truth in this statement.

To get to the Solu Khumbu Trekking region, we take a small turbo-prop plane, which, between the clouds, provides spectacular views of the Himalaya, and landed at Lukla which is the gateway to Solu Khumbu (as the Mt. Everest Region is called in Nepal). However, another possible approach - if you have time and stamina - is that you can take a 12-hour bus (see first two sentences of the last paragraph for details) to the trail head and then trek for 6 fantastic days to Lukla (it is perhaps a slightly more honest approach in the true spirit of trekking, but also much more time consuming).

From the moment we land in Lukla, the Himalaya take over our every sense. They dominate the skyline, they make the weather, they provide the snows which provide the water your drink and the waters that rage in the river valleys below. they define the trails, they shape the cultures, they cause the aches in your feet and joints, and they are, of course, the reason you are here!

The story continues...