Jamie 077.jpg/Day 1: Lukla Airport/This is the main way in and out of the Khumbu region. The landing was an experience as the plane basically climbed constantly from Kathmandu and then Lukla appeared out the cloud and we dropped onto the runway quite abruptly.
Jamie 079.jpg/Day 1: Trekking Begins/Me and John setting off. I decided to use the walking poles from day one to try and look after my knees.
Jamie 084.jpg/Day 1: Kholi/The river valley we're to walk up to get to Phakding. We can't see any mountains because it's too cloudy.
Jamie 089.jpg/Day 1: Mark Sleeps/First day of walking over - and I've passed out already. :)
IMG_3149.jpg/Day 1: Jamie in the restaurant/Our first lodge at Phakding. We ate quite early and played cards after dinner before noticing a million bugs had congregated around the lights.
IMG_3150.jpg/Day 2: Phakding/A look back along the trail in Phakding.
IMG_3151.jpg/Day 2: River crossing/A large bridge spans the river just outside of Phakding as the valley continues to rise away in front of us.
IMG_3152.jpg/Day 2: Bridge Trekkers/Jamie and Jon on the bridge.
IMG_3156.jpg/Day 2: Old Bridge/Jamie and Jon standing on the old bridge crossing. I'm standing on the new bridge to take the photo which is almost complete (only the paths to it need to be finished). The old bridge had planks missing or broken and held in place by rocks. Very reassuring.
IMG_3157.jpg/Day 2: High crossing/The next bridge spans the river. This is the base of the large hill you climb to get to Namche. The next few hours walking were quite painful.
IMG_3163.jpg/Day 2: Namche/We made it to Namche, although to get there Jamie had to break into Jon's chocolate supply as he was struggling. Ironically we got to a tea house seconds after Jon's pack had been raided and Jamie then had two mars bars to be sure.
IMG_3164.jpg/Day 2: Lodgings/We stayed in the Khumbu Lodge in the centre of Namche (I HIGHLY recommend it). This is the view from our window. The lodge did fantastic "Yak Sizzlers" which we had to reward ourselves for getting up here.
Jamie 118.jpg/Day 3: Breakfast/Me and Jon have eggs and beans on toast for breakfast. Very nice.
IMG_3165.jpg/Day 3: HP Saucery/Jamie carried a bottle of HP sauce with him to have with his eggs and chapati every morning.
Jamie 120.jpg/Day 3: Shops in Namche/We had a rest day in Namche because we were already at 3400m and only 3 days out of KTM. This coincided with all of use feeling unwell - luckily with the comfort of a nice lodge. We spent the day sitting in the restaurant playing cards with some american peace core volunteers we met, and also made a trip to Herman's Bakery to show Sian (one of the volunteers) what it meant to have "tea" in the afternoon.
Jamie 128.jpg/Day 4: Resting Trekkers/Sian, myself, Katy and Kurt stop for a rest. These guys were on the Gokyo trek, and we'd decided to trek via Mong and Phortse before rejoining the Everest trail at Pangboche.
Jamie 132.jpg/Day 4: Mong La/Mong La is famed for its fantastic views, unfortunately it was cloudy! Katy, Melissa, Sian, myself, Kurt and Jon enjoy the view before heading off to Phortse.
Jamie 137.jpg/Day 4: River Valley/The river is deep beneath us in the valley as we descend down to meet it.
IMG_3174.jpg/Day 4: Sian and Yaks/We met some yaks on the narrow trail down to Phortse Tenga. Sian decided to see if they were "pettable". We lived to tell the tale... I think they enjoyed it really.
IMG_3176.jpg/Day 5: Morning View/In the mornings it was always very clear, before the clouds came up the valley. This is the view from our bedroom window in Phortse.
IMG_3177.jpg/Day 5: Himalayan Pros and Cons/The two sides of the Himalayas - The fantastic mountain views, and the toilets.
Jamie 148.jpg/Day 5: Charpi/No trek photo album would be complete without at least one charpi picture - the facilities here weren't the best, and this was the first lodge that didn't have a western toilet. A shock for poor Jon.
IMG_3181.jpg/Day 5: Yak Farm/Some Yaks in Phortse, the view in the background is up the Gokyo valley.
Jamie 147.jpg/Day 5: Grubby Grin/The daughter of the lodge owner in Phortse. We stayed at the Namaste Lodge.
Jamie 150.jpg/Day 5: Everest Summiteer/The owner of the Namaste Lodge was an Everest Summiteer. He was really helpful and friendly.
IMG_3183.jpg/Day 5: Phortse/View up the hill to the rest of the village as we're leaving.
Jamie 161.jpg/Day 5: Posers/Jamie and Jon pose above the valley.
Jamie 163.jpg/Day 5: Tengboche/Tengboche lies across the valley in an awesome setting on the ridge below the mountain peaks. Our route up took us from Phortse to Pangboche on the opposite side of the valley to the usual base camp trek.
Jamie 167.jpg/Day 5: Photographer/As I photograph Tengboche, Jamie's taken this picture of me, with Mong La in the background on the ridge. It's not cloudy there anymore - the views must be fantastic... ;)
IMG_3195.jpg/Day 5: Ama Dablam/Jamie presents this beautiful mountain which we see for a lot of the trek. This was our first look at it.
IMG_3197.jpg/Day 5: Pangboche/The trail skirts the valley down to Pangboche below, with Ama Dablam (6828m) towering in the background. The walking was excellent this day, and I was moved to sing the first 7 tracks of Queen's Greatest Hits whilst we walked. It amused Jon anyway.
Jamie 179.jpg/Day 5: Chorten/A Chorten (or Stupa) on the trail. You should always walk clockwise around these.
Jamie 181.jpg/Day 5: Lower Pangboche/We reached our destination for the day. We stayed in the lodge right in the middle with the green roof.
Jamie 210.jpg/Day 6: Yak/Yaktastic.
IMG_3209.jpg/Day 6: Rest stop/Jamie and Jon rest on the way to Dingboche. The fantastic view in the background is of the Lhotse - Nuptse wall.
IMG_3210.jpg/Day 6: Back to Tengboche/The view back down the valley towards Tengboche. Now we're higher up the clouds don't make an appearance until much later in the day, so we can see more of the mountains.
IMG_3211.jpg/Day 6: Nepal's Michael Owen/Apparently Real Madrid have first refusal on his signature.
IMG_3214.jpg/Day 6: Dingboche/Our first view of Dingboche. The valley behind it goes up to Chhukhung. The main trail goes up to the valley out of shot to the left of the picture.
IMG_3221.jpg/Day 6: Dingboche from above/When we got to the lodge I was still quite energised so I went for an acclimatisation walk up onto the ridge next to Dingboche. The clouds were beginning to come in by the time I came down.
IMG_3226.jpg/Day 6: Prayer Flags/Some prayer flags up on the ridge with Ama Dablam behind them in the cloud.
Jamie 226.jpg/Day 7: Sonam Friendship Lodge/The lodge owner combs his dog. This lodge was fantastic, did a mean Yak steak, and had hot showers. We spent an extra day here to trek up to Chhukhung for acclimatisation.
IMG_3228.jpg/Day 7: Up to Chhukhung/We start walking up to Chhukhung. This was a side-trek so Jamie and I left our packs in Dingboche.
IMG_3229.jpg/Day 7: Packless/I enjoy stretching, free of the backpack! :)
IMG_3231_STITCH.jpg/Day 7: Ama Dablam and Ice Wall (panorama)/The view of Ama Dablam from the Chhukhung valley with a magnificent ice wall leading along to it.
Jamie 229.jpg/Day 7: The Vocalists/We met Tom in Dingboche who was great fun. He and I had a common interest - singing whilst trekking. Jon joins us here for a good sing-a-long.
Jamie 236.jpg/Day 7: Me/I stop for a drink with Lhotse in the background.
Jamie 238.jpg/Day 7: Dingboche/The view back down the valley to Dingboche.
IMG_3237.jpg/Day 7: Chhukhung/We stopped in Chhukhung for lunch, then started to climb up towards the Ri, leaving the valley. This is the view back down to the village.
IMG_3238.jpg/Day 7: Glacier/The landscape was amazing leading across to the mountains. Felt like something off the moon.
IMG_3240.jpg/Day 7: Craig, Jamie and Asha/We met Craig in Dingboche as well as two German sister's and their guide Asha. This is Craig, Jamie and Asha sat above the Chhukhung valley with a cloudy Ama Dablam behind them.
IMG_3247.jpg/Day 7: Prayer Flags and Chhukhung/View of Chhukhung through the prayer flags and Ama Dablam towering above.
jon_3_071.jpg/Day 8: Pheriche and Beyond/Jon and Jamie went from Dingboche down to Pheriche on a drugs mission this day. There's a "hospital" there where you can buy useful things like diamox, sudafed etc so they went to stock up as the "Khumbu cough" was getting to us. The rest of us went the normal way along the ridge to Dugla.
IMG_3253.jpg/Day 8: Dugla/Right in the middle of the picture is a blue roof - that's the main lodge in Dugla (there's only two). The walk from Dingboche was quite easy, and Tom and I sung most of the way.
IMG_3254.jpg/Day 8: Lake near Dugla/After lunch we went for an acclimatisation walk up and out of the valley towards Dzongla. The lake below was huge, and looked very cold.
IMG_3256.jpg/Day 8: Pheriche Valley/From higher up we got fantastic views back down the valley towards Pheriche - we'd missed this part of the valley by going to Dingboche (over the ridge above Pheriche) and then traversing the higher path which you can see up to Dugla.
IMG_3260.jpg/Day 8: Acclimatising/From left to right, Asha, Melissa, Sabine, Carolyn, Craig, Tom and myself. Ama Dablam in the background.
IMG_3261.jpg/Day 8: Mordor?/I love this picture. the clouds were flowing around a nearby peak, this picture was taken through my sun glasses - hence the colouring.
IMG_3266.jpg/Day 8: Ama Dablam/In the evening we got fantastic views as the moon rose above Ama Dablam before the clouds came rolling in.
IMG_3269.jpg/Day 8: Jamie and Ama Dablam/Jamie (and his hat) silhouetted in front of the mountain.
IMG_3276.jpg/Day 9: Dugla Memorial/Climbing out of Dugla you reach an area with lots of chortens and cairns in memorial to many climbers who have died on Everest.
IMG_3278.jpg/Day 9: Valley to Lobuche/This is the view up the valley towards Lobuche. The mountain on the left is Pumo Ri (7145m), and the small hill underneath it and towards the centre is Kala Pattar.
Jamie 297.jpg/Day 9: Lobuche/Jamie and I got to Lobuche early having walked quickly from Dugla. This paid off because we managed to get the eight of us rooms in the nicer lodges.
IMG_3279.jpg/Day 9: New Toilet Roll/Our lodge at Lobuche had some nicer toilet roll which Jamie purchased. He was tempted to buy all of it, and then sell it on to the large German group staying at the same lodge for a profit.
IMG_3281.jpg/Day 9: Hot Shower/The secret behind all the hot showers wasn't that technical.
jon_3_098.jpg/Day 9: Pony Trekking/As the sign suggested, you could hire a ride to Kala Pattar, we weren't too sure about the animal in question though.
Jamie 305.jpg/Day 9: Pass from Chhukhung/This is the pass over from Chhukhung that is an alternative route to Lobuche, missing out Dugla.
Jamie 307.jpg/Day 9: The Guys/From Lobuche we ascended a nearby ridge to stand in the middle of the glacial valley. The guys are (from left to right) Sabine, Carolyn, Craig, Tom, myself, Jamie, Melissa, and Jon.
IMG_3292.jpg/Day 9: The Elite/Jon, myself and Jamie with the glacier to base camp stretching out behind us.
Jamie 315.jpg/Day 10: Sunrise/As we leave Lobuche the sun comes out over the ridge.
Jamie 316.jpg/Day 10: Leaving Lobuche/We stop for a break out of Lobuche and I steal one of Melissa's coconut biscuits.
Jamie 320.jpg/Day 10: Rocky Climb/After being quite flat, we reach the glacial moraine that stands between us and Gorak Shep.
IMG_3296.jpg/Day 10: Back to Lobuche/The valley leading back down to Lobuche.
IMG_3316.jpg/Day 10: Moraine/The path clambered and climbed over the moraine - as did we.
IMG_3317.jpg/Day 10: Gorak Shep/Our first sight of Gorak Shep below, with Kala Pattar and Pumo Ri stretching above.
Jamie 326.jpg/Day 10: Everest Glacier/The glacier stretching away from Gorak Shep up to Base Camp.
IMG_3319.jpg/Day 10: Everest and Nuptse/The sharper, snowy peak is Nuptse (7855m) and the blacker peak to the left is Everest itself (8848m).
jon_3_106.jpg/Day 10: Everest/Everest from Kala Patter. She's a big'un.
Jamie 338.jpg/Day 10: Happy on Kala Patter/Tom and myself with Nuptse behind us.
IMG_3320.jpg/Day 10: Down Kala Pattar/The view back down the trail from the top of Kala Patter to the glacier below.
IMG_3324_STITCH.jpg/Day 10: View from Kala Pattar (panorama)/The view from the top of Kala Pattar - about 300 degrees of it anyway. Everest and Nuptse looking big, then the valley back down.
IMG_3338.jpg/Day 10: Kala Pattar/The view down the ridge that Kala Pattar is on. We descended down the ridge, rather than going back down the trail (left).
IMG_3343.jpg/Day 10: Base Camp from Kala Pattar/Down on the left you can just make out specks of blue and orange - the tents of base camp. The ice coming down from the right into the glacier is the Khumbu Ice Fall.
Jamie 345.jpg/Day 10: Jamie Lets Go/When we went to see the hundred rupee monk in Annapurna the previous year we were given bands to wear around our necks until they fell off for good luck. Jamie's hadn't fallen off so he decided to leave it at the top of Kala Pattar tied to the prayer flags there.
Jamie 351.jpg/Day 10: Mark and Jon/Jon and myself sat on the summit of Kala Pattar.
IMG_3345.jpg/Day 10: Me, Myself and Everest/Everest peering through the clouds behind a grinning Mark.
jon_3_122.jpg/Day 10: Mark and Jamie Summit/Jamie and myself at the top of Kala Patter.
IMG_3346.jpg/Day 10: Kancha, Melissa and Tom/After a bit of persuading we got Tom up onto the summit despite his slight fear of heights.
Jamie 356.jpg/Day 10: Kala Pattar Summiteers/ -- Melissa, Tom, myself --<br />-- Jon, Tom and Jamie --
IMG_3350.jpg/Day 10: Kala Pattar/A view of the peak we were on in the previous photos from the side. You can see why Tom didn't want to be up there from here. The ridge that the peak is on continues up to Pumo Ri which is hidden in the cloud.
jon_3_126.jpg/Day 10: Kancha and Asha/The guides seem happy to have gotten us all up there safely.
Jamie 363.jpg/Day 10: The group in front of Everest/Myself, Melissa, Jamie, Sabine, Kancha, Tom, Asha, Jon and Craig.
IMG_3354.jpg/Day 10: Poser/I stand in front of a Chorten with the glacier stretching back down towards Lobuche behind me.
IMG_3360.jpg/Day 10: Kancha/Kancha seemingly floats off the ridge as Tom walks past.
jon_3_142.jpg/Day 10: Beached Yak/A Yak resting outside the lodge on the strange "beach" at Gorak Shep. Not a lot of volleyball was going on.
IMG_3361.jpg/Day 11: Mountain Reflection/Leaving Gorak Shep for Base Camp you walk alongside this lake which gave a great opportunity for a reflection shot.
IMG_3363.jpg/Day 11: Moraine Clambering/The trail to Base Camp goes over more glacial moraine. I was tired from the previous day's exploits and found the going very tough, nearly turning back halfway there. I'm very glad I didn't.
IMG_3364_STITCH.jpg/Day 11: To Base Camp (panorama)/Jon stops for a rest and looks on towards Base Camp which sits below the towering Everest on the right of shot.
IMG_3372.jpg/Day 11: Tom straddles ice/The fact that we were walking over ice beneath the rocks became more apparent as we ascended. At this point the ice had sheared and there was a visible wall of it, melting away slowly.
IMG_3373.jpg/Day 11: Thumbs up from Kancha/Kancha (Tom's guide) gives us the thumbs up after taking a sneaky higher route, one which was too risky for us apparently.
IMG_3374.jpg/Day 11: Ice Lake/The glacier had large lakes in which appeared frozen solid until a falling rock would smash straight through and produce a large splash. The glacier was constantly creaking and cracking noisily as we walked along, and rocks would tumble down every now and again as their support shifted.
IMG_3379.jpg/Day 11: Crashed Russian Helicopter/About 6 months before we were there, a helicopter crashed up here after suddenly losing its ground effect while landing. The wreckage still lies here, about half a mile from Base Camp.
IMG_3381.jpg/Day 11: Jon at Base Camp/Jon waves over from a mound that he's sat on with the tents of base camp behind him, and the Khumbu Ice Fall in the background.
IMG_3386.jpg/Day 11: All Smiles/Tom and myself were the last to arrive after a grueling three and a half hours walk from Gorak Shep. The view was fantastic, and the feeling of being with expeditions currently attempting to climb Everest was very special.
IMG_3414.jpg/Day 11: I'm at Base Camp!/Me with the Khumbu Ice Fall behind me. The ice fall is the way up towards Everest from here, and Sherpa's find/build a route up the massive ice blocks (some as big as houses) and then "sell" tickets to climbers who can progress on up.
IMG_3392_STITCH.jpg/Day 11: Base Camp (panorama)/There were only two expeditions there - it was out of the main season for summiting.
IMG_3413.jpg/Day 11: Tom and Kancha/Tom and Kancha in front of the Khumbu Ice Fall - Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay stylee.
IMG_3421.jpg/Day 11: Snow/On the way back to Gorak Shep the clouds descended and it snowed on us for most of the walk.
Jamie 373.jpg/Day 11: Tea in the lodge/After a hard day's walking we've had a lot of well earned tea in our lodge.
Jamie 376.jpg/Day 11: Jon Pours Another/Jon has another cup of hot drink - probably hot lemon... he liked that. ;)
IMG_3433.jpg/Day 11: Jamie's Photos/Asha looks over Jamie's shoulder as he looks through is photos on the camera.
IMG_3435.jpg/Day 11: Hot Lemontastic/Jon's quite happy to get another pot of hot lemon.
jon_3_193.jpg/Day 11: The flag/We left Jon's Wales flag nailed to the wall in our lodge at Gorak Shep. We'd all signed it and it joined a host of others. Now... if you go there you can spot our names in the lodge! :)
IMG_3437.jpg/Day 12: Lodge Room/Our room in Gorak Shep. The lodge was very good at Gorak Shep, and exceeded all expectations - I was expecting something more like High Camp on the Annapurna circuit but we had everything in the same building, including the loo, and lots of rooms.
IMG_3438.jpg/Day 12: Snow Explorers/It snowed all night so we were in wet weather gear for the walk back down.
IMG_3439.jpg/Day 12: Ready To Descend/With macs, pack covers and gaters at the ready everyone's about to set off back down the valley. This is the last picture taken this day because it snowed, and then rained all the way down which was quite miserable. We got to Pangboche late afternoon and eventually found a lodge with rooms, beer and a warm dining room to play cards in.
jon_3_201.jpg/Day 12: Lunch in Pheriche/We stopped for lunch in Pheriche and sat around the fire to warm up and dry off. This was very pleasant even though the source of heat was burning dried yak dung - it's more environmentally friendly that burning wood.
Jamie 385.jpg/Day 13: Round the Chorten/I'm walking past a Chorten between Pangboche and Tengboche. We came a long way down yesterday and left the group this morning as most of them were going up to Gokyo from Pangboche.
IMG_3443.jpg/Day 13: River Crossings/The old and new bridge crossing the river between Pangboche and Tengboche.
IMG_3445.jpg/Day 13: Pangboche/The view up the river towards Pangboche.
IMG_3447.jpg/Day 13: Tengboche/Jon walks towards the monastery as we enter Tengboche. The climb up to Tengboche was quite hard, but we were feeling the great effects of having descended so far the previous day, and our acclimatised bodies made light work of plodding up the hill.
Jamie 405.jpg/Day 13: from Tengboche/The view back up towards the big mountains from Tengboche.
IMG_3451.jpg/Day 13: Mountains through the gate/The gate to the monastery with snow capped mountains appearing through the clouds.
IMG_3453.jpg/Day 13: Tengboche Monastery/The monastery in Tengboche. Unfortunately we weren't staying in Tengboche, and there wasn't a service on while we were there.
IMG_3455.jpg/Day 13: To Sanasa and Namche/After crossing the ridge Tengboche is on, we could see the trail descend back down to the river, and then climb all the way back up to Sanasa, before leveling off slightly and heading round to Namche.
IMG_3456.jpg/Day 13: Descend to Ascend/Jamie and Jon start the descent from Tengboche, trying not to think too much about the big climb up out of the valley on the other side.
Jamie 412.jpg/Day 13: Bridge at Phunki/The bridge over the river at the bottom of the valley is next to a little village called Phunki where we stopped for a quick drink.
IMG_3460_STITCH.jpg/Day 13: Trail to Namche (panorama)/Past Sanasa this is the view back to the trail we'd just taken. Tengboche lies on the ridge right of centre and you can make out the trail winding down to the bottom from there.
Jamie 424.jpg/Day 14: Comedy Look/I can only assume that Jamie's paparazzi skills had gotten to me here :) This is us just about to descend out of Namche in the morning.
IMG_3465.jpg/Day 14: Kwangde/Kwangde is a trekking peak up the valley from Namche.
IMG_3473.jpg/Day 14: Phakding (again)/We made it back to Phakding for lunch after the steep and long descent from Namche - passing lots of fresh faced, and knackered trekkers on their way up.
IMG_3474.jpg/Day 14: Jamie or Rambo?/This was a very long day and yes, we did get a bit silly. Knowing that this was our last day of walking was coupled with the feeling that it was never going to end as the walk from Namche to Lukla is very long.
jon_4_065.jpg/Day 14: Comedy Trekkers/The walk went on and on and on. We had a long and heated debate about whether we'd yet passed the place we had lunch on the first day, and therefore how long we had left before we got to Lukla. This was finally resolved when... we got to Lukla.
IMG_3475.jpg/Day 14: Jon's Hat/An interesting hat pose here from Jon. The hat had, by the end of the trek, seen much better days. We were in Lukla at last and had finished the trek, better news still was that Yeti airlines could fly us out there and then so we got to Kathmandu the same day!
Jamie 460.jpg/Day 14: Flying? That's Easy/The pilot reads the paper on the way back to KTM. It was a great feeling to be back in a nice hotel in Thamel, and go out for some good tucker that evening! :)