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Tray Tables and Time Zones
Twice a month Tray Tables and Time Zones brings you a realistic view of travel around the world with a no-holds barred approach. We will share stories from the road, discuss destinations, types of travel, how to travel and everything in between. Nothing is off limits. We celebrate the journey and all that is to be gained, all the while remembering that not every foray into travel is rainbows and sunshine and instead of glossing over the bad we embrace it as all part of the experience. So make sure your tray table is in its upright and locked position, set you watch to your destination's time zone and come along on this crazy journey of traveling the world.
Tray Tables and Time Zones
Unforgettable Everest: A Journey of Resilience
Ever wondered what it takes to embark on a life-changing journey to Mount Everest Base Camp? Join me, Josh Bogle, as I recount my transformative trek, from the initial spark of inspiration ignited by travel vloggers Kara and Nate, to the exhilarating and nerve-wracking experience of landing at Lukla, the world’s most dangerous airport.
Immerse yourself in the meticulous preparation that made this adventure possible, especially during the pandemic when the mountains beckoned stronger than ever. I’ll walk you through the physical training, the selection of the perfect guide company, and the essential acclimatization strategies crucial for tackling challenges such as altitude sickness. Feel the rush of emotions as I detail the breathtaking journey through the Khumbu Valley, the heart-stopping crossing of the Hillary Bridge, and the humbling strength of the Sherpa people.
Finally, share in the emotional and physical trials of the trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. Experience the awe of seeing Mount Everest from Namche Bazaar, the exhaustion of navigating treacherous terrain at over 17,000 feet, and the profound sense of accomplishment upon reaching base camp. This episode is not just about the destination, but the incredible journey—the resilience, determination, and the unforgettable moments that make it a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Tune in to be inspired and to gain a deeper appreciation for the raw beauty and emotional impact of trekking to one of the most iconic places on Earth.
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Flight 527, runaway, 8km cleared for takeoff. This is your captain speaking. If you love travel and we know you do, buckle your seatbelts and keep your tray tables in the upright position. You should be seeing the illuminated fun signs throughout the aircraft because we're about to take off on a chat of epic proportions. Welcome to Tray Tables and Time Zones, the podcast where travel isn't just about taking vacations, it's about enriching your life. We'll dive into the highs, the lows and the downright absurd moments that come with exploring the world. Whether it's food poisoning on a long-haul flight, trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp or traveling to Disney parks worldwide, we cover it all Serious at moments, but mostly we're here to laugh and share some brutally honest travel stories. So let's do it one time zone at a time. This is Trey Tableson Time Zones, and this is your host. Josh Bogle Tables and Time Zones, and this is your host.
Speaker 2:Josh Bogle. Hey everyone and welcome back to the Trade Tables and Time Zones podcast. I'm your host, josh Bogle. On this episode I'm going to do a deep dive into my trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. But before I get into the actual story of the trip itself, I kind of want to share some background on how I came to this trip. It's really a microcosm of how I began my international travel life and how I got to where I am as far as how I travel and what I look for and kind of the adventure that I like to chase on some of my travels. So, not to bog down the story, but I do want to share a little bit of that background. I guess it really will go back to around 2015, 2016.
Speaker 2:I had gotten interested in traveling more internationally. It just it was something that at that point in my life it was. It was starting to interest me more and more. You know we had traveled a lot in the United States trips throughout the U? S, including Disney, and we had done some Disney cruises and things like that and those were great, really got into those, but kind of wanted more. Right, I wanted to go experience more. There's such a big world out there. I wanted to see more of it and, luckily enough, my wife shared that same sentiment. And so, you know, we kind of started looking around and trying to understand, you know, how to travel internationally and learn more about it, what was out there and how to handle it and where to go and things like that. And so, as one does these days, we turn to YouTube. You know, that was really early, I guess, in a lot of of the travel vlogging genre in YouTube, where folks were documenting their travels all around the world and showing you different locations that you'd never really thought of. And that was certainly the case for me. You know, it was like kind of a whole new world being opened up to me.
Speaker 2:And we came across this one burgeoning YouTube channel, and actually it was really small at the time when we came across it, but we liked the couple. It was a couple that traveled together and they had just gotten started, right, they were just now starting their journey and I think the plan was at that time for them to travel for a year straight, and that's kind of what they had saved up to do. Obviously, they were, you know, putting out content and they were new and and you know they were trying to figure it all out and it was really cool to kind of follow that, you know, because we were learning about the travel side. And then you had this human element of them learning how to do things Right, and that channel at the time was very small, but now I believe they are approaching 4 million subscribers. And that would be Kara and Nate. If you're into travel, you've probably come across their videos. If you're not a follower or a subscriber, you've at least heard of them. They've really done a ton of different travel around the world. And then Nate kind of got into these challenges of doing these different, you know, different adventure challenges around the world. I think he actually just read the Leadville 100. So very, very, uh, very much into them and and got into following their stuff. And one of the things they ended up doing, I think in 2016, was trekking to Mount Everest base Camp and at the time I had never really heard of the opportunity to trek to Mount Everest Base Camp.
Speaker 2:I knew of Mount Everest, I knew that there was a base camp, I knew that's where mountaineers would go and would start their attempts to summit Mount Everest, but I didn't know anything about the treks that you could do from essentially Lukla, which is kind of the start of the trail, all the way to Mount Everest Base Camp, and that's just one of the you know multiple treks and climbs and things that you can do in that region of Nepal. But I had no idea that was something you could do. I had no idea that was something you could do and at the time I was like man, there is no damn way I'm going to drag my ass up a mountain at like crazy altitudes all the way up there to see Mount Everest. I was like man, if I ever want to see Mount Everest, I will get in a helicopter and fly up there and check it out and then fly back Right, because I swear I was in my life. I was in that kind of place. I wasn't looking for crazy adventures or challenges. So I kind of discounted the actual trek part. I knew it occurred and you could do it, but I kind of just discounted it right, it was something I was never going to do. I love the idea of landing at Lukla, because Lukla which is like again, it's kind of where you start your trek is considered the most dangerous airport in the world. And so I thought, you know, oh man, that'd be cool to fly into there and land and then maybe stay a couple of days in Lukla and just kind of hang out and check out the vibe, right, and then jump back on the plane and take off from there too. So, being a kind of an aviation nerd, that seemed really awesome. But the actual Trek part, I really wasn't into it.
Speaker 2:So, you know, time progressed and we started traveling, right, we started doing more international travel in Asia and in Europe and things like that. And obviously we were following Nate and Kara as well and getting more and more ideas. And for some we were following Nate and Kara as well and getting more and more ideas. And for some reason, in the back of my mind, that Everest trek was stuck there and would just pop into my brain every once in a while, really kind of annoying, but it wouldn't go away. Right, I was always just there was something about it kept drawing me back in. I was always just there was something about it kept drawing me back in, and so I started getting interested in it. I'm like you know, what am I doing? This is not really my gig. I don't know, man, I don't know if I want to. You know, try to do something like that. It's crazy, it's high, it's hard, it's. You know, I was.
Speaker 2:I was traveling pretty free and easy at that point, and not necessarily looking for a tough challenge, but it just wouldn't get out of my brain. And then the world shut down, right? And so now I couldn't do it, right, you couldn't go anywhere. Hell, you were lucky to leave your house, and so it made it even more appealing. You know the thought of being out amongst the mountains and the clean air and trekking through this beautiful scenery and being surrounded by the tallest mountains in the world. You know, it seemed really, really good, and so when things started opening back up, it became not an obsession, but it certainly became something.
Speaker 2:At that point, I realized, look, time is limited. You know, something could happen the next day. That changes, you know, your ability to travel and move freely throughout the world, and I don't want to miss out on things. Right, I don't want to miss out on those experiences, and that's really furthered my shift that had started, you know, in 2015, 2016 range of moving away from things and moving more into experiences. Right, I wanted my life filled with experiences. I didn't really care about things. I cared about those experiences that I would carry with me through the rest of my life, and this became an experience that I just I had to try right. Even if I didn't make it, even if something happened and I couldn't make it all the way, I had tried and had got to experience it. And that's what I did.
Speaker 2:I started reading about it and watching more and more videos and trying to figure everything out, you know, reading on message boards and Reddit and all these things about people that had done it and had made this trek and how to how to do it, how to best go about it. And then I started reading up on the different tour companies and the guide services that were available and there's a lot of them, right, so it's hard to choose. There's some really big ones. There's some that organize the organize the trek but really don't have a huge presence in Nepal. There's some that are owned locally in Nepal. It runs the gamut and I remembered that to that Nate and Kara series on on trekking in Nepal and over that time after their trek trekking in Nepal, and over that time after their trek, they had become friends with the owners of the company that they trekked with, and that was a company called iTrek Everest. And it turns out that the owner, or one of the owners, of iTrek Everest, a guy by the name of Rick Neuf, lives in the US. He lives in Colorado and he's been featured on their channel a couple of times. Well, anyway, I got in touch with him and, you know, started inquiring about the trip and it worked out to where they they seemed like the best choice. I kind of clicked with them, made me feel comfortable with the trip, and so I decided screw it, I'm going to go for this. So that's what I did book the trip. And so I decided screw it, I'm going to go for this. So that's what I did.
Speaker 2:Booked the trip, but before I left, I put in a ton of work because, frankly, coming out of the pandemic, I wasn't in the best shape. I'd gotten lazy and, you know, kind of sedimentary, and I had to get my ass in better shape because there was no way that I was going to be able to do this trip at my current fitness level, uh, to put it nicely to myself. So another great portion of this was that it motivated me to get up off my ass and actually start working out, and that's what I did. So I, you know, joined the gym and started walking and running and hiking and lifting weights and doing all the things that I was learning I needed to do to do this trek. It worked out well. I gained a lot of muscle, gained a lot of endurance and lost some weight and worked out great.
Speaker 2:One of the other things I did is used a altitude tent. So what this is is it's a tent and it has a oxygen type of altitude generator that connects to it, and you spend as much time as you can in this tent and it's able to simulate altitude. And the reason I did this is because I basically live at sea level I mean maybe a couple of hundred feet above sea level at best, and so there was no way to replicate being in the mountains. Right, I couldn't spend all my time in Colorado, I couldn't move to Colorado or wherever for a couple of months to train at altitude. Family and a job and neither don't you know, neither one of those would be too kindly to me just taking off for several months and, you know, living a nomadic lifestyle and training in the altitude. So I had to figure out another way to do it. And so I got this tent and I slept in it and I would work in it and I would hang out in it as much as I could, right, and that way I could build up a tolerance for the altitude Right, so I wouldn't get altitude sickness when I was on the mountain, because that's the last thing I wanted was for my trip to be ruined because I got sick from altitude sickness. There's so many other challenges on this trip. There's so many other roadblocks that I didn't want the altitude one to become that roadblock blocks, that I didn't want the altitude one to become that roadblock. And so I use that tent all the way up until like a day or two before I left, because I had to ship the tent and all the equipment back, because I just rented it, I didn't buy it, and so I did as much prep as I thought I could do for this trip.
Speaker 2:And in February of 2023, I jumped on a plane. I flew from Houston to Delhi, had a layover in Delhi and, by the way, in a future episode I'm going to have a few things to say about Delhi's airport, but that's later on and then flew from Delhi to Kathmandu, and what a whirlwind. That was right. Land in Nepal. I have no idea of what's going on, as far as you know. It's a new city, it's chaotic, it's loud, it's. You know, there's things going everywhere and I'd been in a lot of chaotic cities and a lot of loud cities. But you know, kathmandu was certainly on a on a different level of of just chaos occurring all over the place. Really cool place but definitely chaotic.
Speaker 2:So anyway, landed at the airport, got through getting my visa cleared up as a visa on arrival, got that handled, got some local currency at the ATM, got my luggage and met up with the representative. I think now he may actually be a co-owner, or he was a co-owner at the time even of I Trek Everest in Nepal, and that was Sonam Sherpa, and Sonam is actually in Nate and Carrie's video. He's the one that guided them up to base camp and back, and so he was there waiting for me. So I instantly recognized him. It was almost, like you know, seeing an old friend, right, even though I'd never met him, never talked to him at that point. Uh, but I had seen him so much in videos and such that you know he felt like a friend.
Speaker 2:I felt instantly comfortable, which I really enjoyed. It was it was nice to feel comfortable in a place where you know you were new and didn't know anyone and it was kind of everything had been done for me at that point, right, you know, like when I was going to fly up to the mountain and where I was staying and all that. You know I trick and handle all that. So I almost felt a little disconnected. So to have a friendly face that I had at least seen before in some former fashion was really really comforting.
Speaker 2:And so we went to the hotel. It was a hotel called Napoli Gar. It was really nice, really old school, looking, you know, had this kind of open staircase in the center, a lot of carved wood, really nice hotel, right. And so went there and basically crashed out because I was jet, lagged like a son of a bitch, and crashed out for most of the day, went to dinner with sanam that night, along with my guide up the mountain, uh, someone who I would come to respect a huge amount, uh, fury llama. And fury was. He was a beast I'll talk more about fury shortly, but yeah, he was, he was the man went to dinner, had a great dinner and then the next day we went on kind of a cultural little tour around katmandu, right, got to see a lot of the sites durbar square, some of the more famous old school places in this tamil region of of katmandu really cool to see.
Speaker 2:Actually, got to see the kumari, which, if you don't know what the kumari is in nepal, they're a, a living goddess. She's a living goddess, right. So she's a young girl that comes from a certain family line in a certain valley in Nepal and they have to go through this process to be chosen, and then basically they move into this house in Kathmandu and this goddess enters their body and they become this goddess, the living embodiment of this goddess, and so it's really really cool to see, if you get a chance to see her. And we were in the courtyard and she came to the window and kind of looked over the crowd and it was. That was a pretty cool moment, right. I mean, even though I'm not you know, that's not my religion or anything else to see that was really really cool. And to see the reaction of everybody in the courtyard when she actually came to the window was really, really neat. So, really, if I would have gotten to do nothing else but that while I was in Kathmandu, I would have been happy because that was such a cool experience. So we did that, went back to the hotel, got a nice night's sleep, because the next morning came real early. I think we got up around five o'clock to get to the airport, because the flights start very early into Lukla.
Speaker 2:Now, this flight, let me just tell you, is a wild, wild, wild experience. It is on a very small plane, and I mean very small, and you take off from Kathmandu and it's about a 30, 45 minute flight where most of the time the mountains are higher than the airplane right. They're at a higher altitude than the airplane. You're flying through the mountains, not above them, which is a surreal thought. And then you basically have to land at what many consider the most dangerous airport in the world, and the reason for that name is twofold, actually probably threefold. One, there's been several crashes. We'll skip over that part. Two, it is perched in a village on the side of the mountain right and the runway is perpendicular to the mountain. So once the airplanes start on their final approach, they have to land because there is nowhere else to go. They can't gain enough altitude quickly enough to get up and over the mountains that surround the airfield. So once you turn in on final, you're committed and it's a non-controlled airport, meaning there's no air traffic control telling you when to land. Right, there's a tower that talks to the airplanes but there's no approvals for land. Basically, the pilots almost handle it themselves, right, and they stagger the flight time so that it all works out.
Speaker 2:But I mean it's, it's an interesting ride, right, I had a cool seat. I had a window seat and I could see up through the cockpit so I could see out the cockpit window of the runway coming into view. And I love to fly and I don't mind it being bumpy. But the absolute pucker factor when I saw that damn runway come into view out the cockpit window and realized just how small it was and that's where we were landing, there was definitely an oh shit moment where I was like what am I doing with my life that I am on this plane flying onto this runway? This is the dumbest shit I've ever done. But then my aviation geek kicked in and I was like this is the coolest shit I've ever done. So you know it's, it's. It was a rollercoaster of emotions.
Speaker 2:So we land and all of a sudden, the second we hit the ground, we are moving right, we get off the plane, you get out of the way because the airplanes turn around extremely fast, like five minutes. Right, you unload, they unload all the gear, you turn around, load it back up and another group flies out. Right, and they do it as fast as they can, because the weather can turn at any time and the conditions can change to where they can't fly in or out, and then it just backs up Lukla and backs up Kathmandu and flights get delayed and canceled. It becomes a mess. So they're trying to move as fast as they can. So you jump off the plane, they bring your bags into kind of a baggage area. You see your bag get set down, you're with your guide and then the next thing you know, your porter comes and grabs your bag and he's calling it off. And you're following your porter in Lukla and it's just a whirlwind, right, you're walking by the airport, you're watching their planes land, you know. So you're in awe of that, and then you're taking in just the raw, unfiltered beauty of where you're at and start to realize oh shit, this is, this is pretty amazing. I'm pretty high already and this isn't even the big ones, right, the big ones are yet to come. You're at the very bottom of the kumbu valley and you haven't seen shit yet. So you're overwhelmed, or at least I was.
Speaker 2:We stopped and had some breakfast at a little tea house in Lukla and then we got started and our first day was a short hike to Fat King where we were going to stop and spend the night, kind of an ease into it day. But I will tell you. And that day may have turned into my most miserable, worst day of the entire trip. And the reason was I was so amped up, I was so fired up for the trip that I forgot every damn piece of advice that you should follow on this trip. I mean every one of them. I just pissed down the drain and it was stupid. I knew better and I knew it actually a couple of times when it was happening and I still didn't correct it and I paid for it in spades.
Speaker 2:So we start hiking along the trail and it's not a lot of altitude gain that first day. It's up and down, but it's kind of what they call Napoli flat right. It's undulating. You know, up and down, up and down, you're gaining some altitude and then you lose some. Then you gain a little bit and you lose some. But I was going way too fast.
Speaker 2:Right, I was hiking way too fast. I was, you know, fired up with adrenaline and everything else and I was walking too fast. I was fired up with adrenaline and everything else and I was walking too fast. I wasn't paying attention to my steps enough. I had too much clothing on as far as I was. You know, I was having to shed layers like crazy because I had too many on for the first day and I didn't drink enough water, which is pretty much the deadliest of the deadly sins on the trail, right.
Speaker 2:So by the time we were getting close to Fat King, I was dehydrated to hell and back, and at that point it was too late. Right, I was already dehydrated. We were not too far, already dehydrated. We were not too far, and I was getting ready to pay for it, because the last little bit into our tea house, we had to kind of go up and around this village, because the little walkthrough area was being rebuilt, right. So they had it blocked off and they were, they were building the trail, and so you had to kind of go up and around and on that, up and around, my legs just locked up, right. I mean cramps wouldn't work, it was just horrible. I was so beaten and just so worn out that I couldn't believe it, and I hadn't hiked hardly any and my body was just wrecked. I hadn't hiked hardly any and my body was just wrecked.
Speaker 2:And so we get to the tea house and, god forbid, my room is upstairs. So I try to climb these stairs and my legs will not hardly work. So instantly I'm freaked out, right. I'm like, oh shit, I have screwed the pooch already and this is going to be miserable. I'm never going to make it because I can't make it this far, right, and this is nothing. This is the easy first day.
Speaker 2:And so I had a couple of hours of absolute self-doubt that I had to fight my way through. You know it's, it's a hard thing when that that fear, it's fear and it's self-doubt and it's not trusting yourself kind of creeps in. You know, cause your body's stressed, you're at higher altitude than you used to. I mean, there's a lot of factors pounding on you. Right, I was by myself, so you know I didn't. I didn't have any other folks to talk to or things to relate to at that point, and I didn't really feel comfortable yet with my guide to talk to him about it. Right, I didn't feel comfortable enough to do that, so I kind of fought through it on my own for a while and, you know, got myself by the next morning into a mental place where I was ready to go. Right, I was.
Speaker 2:I realized my mistakes, I realized that I wasn't a superhuman, you know trekker that was going to be able to just burn through this, that I was going to have to take my time. I was going to be very aware of my water intake, of my food intake, of of everything. Right, because you know, I'm not some world class athlete. I've got to be more careful. And so that was a valuable, valuable lesson, and one that I would, you know, really suggest to people that they try to avoid. If there's any way that you can avoid that first day, just kind of rush, go, go, go, throw everything out the window because you're excited and you're nervous. You've got to avoid that because that shit will come back to bite you. That shit will come back to bite you, and it damn sure did me. And while I made it to base camp. There were days where it came back to haunt me just from being stupid on that first day. So you know it was more of a struggle at times than it probably should have been.
Speaker 2:So the next day is one of the monumental days on the trip and that is up to Namche Bazaar, right? So you trek to Namche Bazaar. This is a long day, so we had been trekking along and we started going over the suspension bridges that you see in some of the videos, and I think we're making a lot of progress and I'm feeling. I'm feeling pretty good. My legs are still pretty, pretty achy and such from cramping up so bad the day before, but you know, fight through it and get to this area where you kind of come around a bin and you look up and there is the Hillary bridge. Now, the Hillary bridge is a suspension bridge across the river and it's right before you start the climb up to Namche. And even though I had watched videos on this hike and everything, you can appreciate really, one, how high the Hillary bridge is and two, the climb that comes after it.
Speaker 2:So we made the steady climb up to the Hillary bridge and went to walk across it, which I am mildly afraid of heights. I've got some. I can handle heights in a lot of situations, but there's some situations that it bothers me and I will admit, on the Hillary bridge you were so high up I had my camera pointed down so that you could see just how high I was, but my eyes were straight ahead. I refused to look down. The wind is blowing its ass off down through this valley and you're on this suspension bridge hanging out over this big valley below you with this river, and it was definitely a moment of panic here and there as I walked across the bridge, made it across and was excited as shit to say that I had done it, because that's a cool thing to be able to go across is the Hillary Bridge.
Speaker 2:What I didn't realize is just how bad the climb from Hillary Bridge up to Namche was going to be. It is a switchback through the trees nightmare. I mean. I don't know how long it took me to get up this climb. I'm sure it took me a lot longer than more fit, younger folks can do it in, but for me at least, it whipped my ass and I'll tell you that's when the first moment of humbling truly came in to be on this trip was, as I'm climbing up this switchback route toward Namche, there are porters who are carrying duffel bags, multiple duffel bags, of the trekkers, including mine, and also carrying supplies to the villages.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, they carry everything in their backs. They carry metal, wood doors, clothes, food, I mean anything and everything you can imagine. These guys are carrying on their backs, right, everything you can imagine these guys are carrying on their backs, right, and here I am huffing and puffing and just getting my ass whipped trying to climb up this, this switchback to namche. These porters would actually turn and you would see these little trails and at first I didn't realize what they were. The porters would turn and go straight up the mountain with all of this weight on their backs to avoid going on the switchbacks. And these guys are in like sweatpants and jeans and t-shirts and tennis shoes and, you know, just normal street clothes and they're going straight up this hill like it is nothing right, and I'm just like what the hell? Right, I'm about to die.
Speaker 2:These guys are carrying God knows how much more weight than I am and they're just burning it right up the mountain and I'm just like God damn it. I mean, it was a humbling experience. And what even humbled me more was when I came around a switchback and there was a resting point and all these porters were sitting there taking a break and they're all smoking cigarettes. I'm like how in the hell are you smoking a cigarette at this altitude? I'm about to die from no oxygen and these guys are over there having a frigging chat and smoking a cigarette like it's nothing. I mean humbling, humbling experience.
Speaker 2:You just you kind of have to put it past, you know, put it in the back of your mind and say these guys live here, they're Sherpa people, you know they they're, they're experienced in this. They're just a different breed. I mean, frankly, I was in awe of my guide and the porters and other guides that we got to hang around with, of the tea houses and talk to. First of all, they've got great, these great amazing stories of adventure and and and tragedy and success and it's amazing to hear their stories right, but at the same time you look at these guys and they're, you know, slider, build, you know just regular looking guys and they are just machines in the mountain. I mean they're not breathing hard, they're not tired. If they are, they certainly don't show it. I mean it is some impressive, impressive stuff. I mean I bow down to the Sherpa all day long. I mean those dudes are, are the most legit hardcore athletes that you could ever imagine. And they're not even trying to be athletes, they're just. That's just life, right, that's just their every day. It is truly along with the mountains. Watching the Sherpa perform in the mountains is one of the coolest experiences of the entire trip.
Speaker 2:So, anyway, back to my slog up the Everest track. So we're in Namche and you stay in Namche two days, right, because you need an extra rest day, an extra acclimatization day, because you're really starting to get at some altitude. So we got in Namche, I crashed out, had some dinner, crashed out, you know, woke up the next day. We did a little acclimatization hike to help get used to the altitude, went up to this viewpoint, which is really cool. There's a statue up at this viewpoint for Tenzing Norgay, and Tenzing Norgay is the Sherpa that was along with Sir Edmund Hillary when they climbed Mount Everest for the first time, and it's a really cool statue to see and the way they've placed the statue up on this high viewpoint. While you're up there you can look beyond the statue and you get your first real glimpse of Mount Everest.
Speaker 2:And I don't know how long we set up there, but I sat there and just stared at it forever. Because here I was. I'm sitting here and I'm staring at Mount Everest in person, right, not on a video, not in a picture, I'm looking directly at it. And that was probably the first real holy shit moment. I'm actually in Nepal, I'm looking at the tallest mountain in the world and that it almost choked me up. In fact, I think it may have choked me up. I may have had a few tears because it was so beautiful and it was so awe-inspiring. And to see something like that something that you probably, I mean, at least for me I never thought I would see, right, I never thought there would be a time in my life where I would see Mount Everest, thought there would be a time in my life where I would see Mount Everest. So to be able to see it was pretty damn special. I mean, I will remember that moment for the rest of my life of getting to see that mountain and there was several of those moments along this trip just because of the raw natural beauty of it. It's hard to explain. Pictures don't do it justice, videos don't do it justice Certainly my words can't do it justice of just how amazingly beautiful this region is and how awe-inspiring the mountains are.
Speaker 2:So we finish up our acclimatization hike, we go back down again, have dinner, hang out in the tea house, hang out by the fire, and that's a really cool experience. All along the trip you kind of are moving at the same pace as some other climbers or some other trekkers, right. So you tend to see a lot of the same people in the tea houses. And this was pretty early in the season this was in February and so a lot of the tea houses hadn't even opened up yet in the season. This was in February, and so a lot of the tea houses hadn't even opened up yet. The season really doesn't kick off, you know, for another month or so. In fact, they're starting prep work, you know, for setting up base camp for the Everest climbs in the in the um the upcoming months during that time. So you're just then starting to see a lot of activity, uh, starting to head toward base camp.
Speaker 2:So there wasn't a ton of people on the, on the track at that time, which was pretty amazing. It was still pretty cold, which was great. Uh, I love the cold weather, so I was, I was pretty happy with the cold, but there wasn't a ton of people, like I said, you know, on the trail. So the ones that you would see is you would get to know, because only a couple of the tea houses be open and you know, so you'd hang out, set by the fire. You know, tell stories, you know, just just shoot the shit, you know, just just hang out. Uh, people from all over the world, right, and there was a guy from australia, a guy from germany, you know, myself being from america, we ran into a couple of british guys, just from all over the world, right, it's really pretty cool. It's kind of an international group, and so you've always you sit around and you sit by the fire to stay warm at night and you and you tell stories and about your day's adventure and where you're from, and it's really a cool bonding experience.
Speaker 2:So we left out of namche and we we started this progression, right, it's basically you hike in the morning, you stop for some tea mid-morning, you stop for lunch to take a break, and then you finish out the rest of the day's hike and you try to be at the next village, you know mid-afternoon, and then that way you can have some rest time, some downtime before you have dinner and before you hang out. And then you go to bed and you stay in tea houses. That's what they're basically called and it's kind of an all in one, right. So it's a restaurant, it's where you, it's where your room is, where you sleep, it's the hangout spot to where you hang out in the evenings. It's kind of an all in one. And it's a little store, right. They always have, you know, bottles of water and snacks and stuff like that that you can also buy, and kind of the thought is theirs is, the rooms aren't that expensive, but it's expected that if you stay in the room that you also take all of your meals there. And the Sherpas handle all that for you, right. They handle setting up where you're going to be staying. You know they will come and they'll talk to you about you know what do you want for dinner, and they'll set up a time for when you get your dinner, you know. And then that night before you go to bed, they'll figure out what you want for breakfast and they'll make sure that that's ordered. And so when you come down, you know whatever set time you guys decide on, you know your breakfast is there and so it's. It's really pretty seamless as far as you not having to do too much, which is a good thing because, frankly, you're stressed half the time. You're at altitude, you're, you know your body is is being assaulted by everything under the sun, and so to remember those types of things is is pretty difficult. So to have the Sherpa there, your guides, to handle those things for you really makes it, makes it great. So we track, you know, out of Namche and that's the. That's the kind of rhythm we're into you trek and then stop, trek and stop, trek and stop.
Speaker 2:One of the villages along the way that was particularly cool was Tingbushae. In Tingbushae there's a monastery, a Buddhist monastery, and they also have a big festival there every year, which I would have loved to have been around for, but it was a different time of the year than when I was there, but we went into the monastery and to see that monastery and the monks right, there was a few monks up there at that time because it was like, again, it was in the colder seasons and some of them leave that monastery for the season. It was really really cool for the season. It was really really cool. Again, a really cool experience, cultural experience. Right, to see, you know not only how the Buddhists, you know, worship and the integral part that the temple plays and the monastery plays in the villages, in the community. It's kind of like the center point, right, you know it's the center of the community, and to see that was really really cool.
Speaker 2:And to trek to the next village, sleep and then finally trekked to Gorik Shep. And Gorik Shep is the last village on the trail and it is up there, it's, it's right next to the kumbu glacier, it is sets next up on this hill to this dry lake bed and from gorick shep you're looking directly at what? Three of the five largest mountains in the world. It's spectacular from there, but it you are high and it is cold. And I remember walking into Gork Shep that day and I was just whipped, just whipped, you know it's, you're getting, you're finally there, right, you're finally almost to base camp and you are pretty beaten by that point.
Speaker 2:You know you have been eating vegetarian on the trail because of you know you can't eat the meat up there Because you know, at least my American stomach would not handle it up there, because you know, at least my american stomach would not handle it because it's it's not necessarily refrigerated. You know the way we would be used to it being and it's been carried up, you know, on either on somebody's back or maybe on a helicopter, but more than likely on somebody's back, and you know you've been eating, so you've been eating vegetarian the entire time. You know you've been sleeping on on beds that aren't super comfortable, you know, and then there's no heat so it's extremely cold, you know. You just, you're just tired, you're, you're, you're pretty beaten down and you're dealing with the effects of really high altitude. You know 16, 17, 000 feet, you know to anybody is is pretty tough to deal with. That's not extremely used to being at that high level of altitude.
Speaker 2:So we make it to Gorick ship and we go in and we eat lunch and that was the first time I had seen someone really affected by the altitude. There had been a guy from Australia that had been hiking along the same timeline as us and he, he would pass me every day and I long lost the, the, the shame of being passed on the trail. I didn't care, I, at that point, I was in survival mode, I was just trying to get there, but he would pass me every day and he was really nice. I mean we we would chat on breaks and and in the tea houses and stuff along the way, and he was, he was a really nice guy. And we walked into the tea house at Gork Shep for lunch and he was in there and he was just head, was just laid on the table and he looked like hell. I mean he was, he was really pale and he looked really rough and his guide was taking his blood oxygen level readings and was checking on him and he didn't look good. And when we left we decided to go ahead and make the attempt to go from Gork ship to base camp that afternoon. So fury and I actually left. And when we left the, the tea house to make the, the push to base camp, the australian guy was still in the tea house and he didn't look good. And so you know, we we kind of said, well, you know, you hope you feel better and and everything like that, and we decided to head on and so we made the trek to base camp and I'm gonna tell to tell you what I was super excited but that seemed like maybe one of the hardest parts outside of like climbing up the, the switchbacks to Namche.
Speaker 2:Getting to base camp itself was one of the hardest sections of the track that I that I can remember, for a couple of reasons. One, like I just said, I was dead ass tired. I was just worn out Right. And two, you're at the highest altitude that you've been. You know you're over 17,000 feet. Three, it's you're hiking basically over the spoils of this glacier. So it's a ton of rock right, boulders and gravel and all these rocks and things that have been chewed up by this big ass glacier that had been deposited on the sides. That's what you're trekking over. So there was hardly any trail. It was, you know, uneven steps and moving rocks and you know every kind of unsteady path that you could think of. You know we went over and then we get up on the glacier and there's, you know you're having to go around crevasses and you know more rock and ice and I mean it was, it was, it was a tough hike in. But I will tell you, all of that faded away when we kind of went around this one crevasse and this one little rock field on the glacier. And there it was. There was the rock, this kind of oval shaped rock with mount everest base camp and the altitude spray painted on it as kind of the symbolic monument to where base camp truly began.
Speaker 2:And I couldn't believe it. I had done it. I had drug my ass all the way up that trail to Mount Everest Base Camp and there I was looking at base camp where all these people come to start their climb of Mount Everest. I was there and there's these giant, monstrous 26, 27, 28 and man ever, it's 29 000 foot peaks surrounding me and I'm kind of in this bowl, right that the end of this glacier, and it's it's like a u-shape, I guess, more than a bowl, it's like a u-shape, I guess more than a bowl it's like a U-shape. And I'm kind of at the very close to the bottom part where it curves around and it's just these magnificent, monstrous mountains around me and I couldn't believe it. And the coolest thing, fury and I were the only ones there.
Speaker 2:There was no one else at base camp at that time on that day, so it was just quiet glacier and the wind coming down through the glacial valley off the mountains and you could see the clouds and the amount of wind blowing these clouds across the peaks of the mountains. It was outside of my wedding day, that feeling on your wedding day or when your kids are born, outside of those moments. It was one of the most awe-inspiring things I'd ever seen. I I'll never forget it. It. I absolutely cried. I I cried from relief from making it, I cried from the joy of making it and I cried at just how beautiful and how awe-inspiring that site was. And it wasn't through a camera, it wasn't on a picture, it wasn't on a screen, it was right there in front of me.
Speaker 2:And I don't know how many people get to see that. But I will tell you, if you get the chance and you're able and frankly I don't give a shit how you get there If you do the trek, hey great. If you get on a damn helicopter and fly up to base camp and stand at base camp and look at it, you know what. You still saw it. I mean, I know there's a lot of divisiveness about, you know, the flying it versus trekking it, but I would encourage you, no matter what, if you have the opportunity to see it, to see mount everest, to see those mountains from that location from that spot. It's just, it's just one of the most magnificent things you'll ever see. I I would highly recommend anyone put that on your list as one of those things that you need to do before you die, because it's just that spectacular, it's that great, it's that worth it, it's worth the effort, it's worth the hassle and the training and the traveling and the cold and the hungry and the pain. It's all worth it and that's the thing right. It's all worth it and that's the thing right.
Speaker 2:Once you see it at least for me, all those other things fell away and it didn't really matter. You know all the, all the all, the misery and and cold and all that it it did not matter. I was truly in the moment of seeing it and I'll never forget it, never as long as I live, we'll forget that moment it was. It was truly awe inspiring and I hated leaving one because I didn't want to. I didn't want to leave the site of that, and the other one was I didn't want to walk back across that God forsaken gravel boulder trail back to gork ship. But I did and we finally made it back to gork ship and had a meal that was probably the best tasting one of the whole trip because of of making it to base camp and slept easily.
Speaker 2:What was in the coldest room I had experienced, probably ever in my life, in the tea house up at Gork Shep. Because, man, there's not a lot of creature comforts at 17,000 feet, trust me, and there's not much in Gork Shep. It is take what you can get and fight through the rest, because it is cold and it is desolate and it is lonely up there that high up that far back in the kumbu. So anyway, eventually we make it back down to lukla. You know you ride the high of of seeing base camp, get back to lukla, hop on a plane, fly, fly out of Lukla, which was equally as cool, although the flight back to Kathmandu did take about an hour because we had to divert for weather and we got the shit beat out of us for a little while on that little plane which is a little bit of a pucker factor. I mean, we were getting thrown around pretty good and you're on a pretty damn small plane, so it's certainly a level of pucker.
Speaker 2:But made it back to Kathmandu, spent a couple of days in Kathmandu and then flew back to the United States, having gained the ability to say that I had been to Bound Everest Base Camp and that I had trekked it and that I had seen Mount Everest with my own eyes. And it was a very proud moment for me. I was, I was very proud and I still am to this day of of making that, that track, because it is not easy and, you know, the older you get, you know for somebody like me I, I tracked it when I was what I would have been 44 at the time, and so it's not the easiest thing as you get older. But I, I'd set that goal for myself and I did it and I was super proud. And so I would encourage anyone that hears this man, it doesn't have to be Mount Everest.
Speaker 2:If you get the chance to go to Mount Everest, to trek Mount Everest, to see it, do it. But it doesn't have to be Mount Everest, it can be anything. If there is an adventure or a place or an event that you find yourself being drawn to, that you find that spark of interest, that spark of yearning to do in your brain or in your heart or wherever it comes from, man, go out there and do all you can to do it. It's worth the struggle, it's worth whatever it takes to get there because it will be something that you will remember forever. Like I said before, I'm in no way, you know, some type of world-class athlete or mountain climber or long distance trekker.
Speaker 2:I love the outdoors. I love, you know, hiking in the mountains, I love camping. I love all those things, but I'm certainly no world-class athlete. But I set my mind to it to make it to Mount Everest base camp and I was lucky enough to get there and so I'm a better person for it. I've got an experience that no one can ever take from me and it's just, it's the best feeling in the world.
Speaker 2:So if you've got a place, that that is your place for something like that. If there's an activity, a place, man, just go do it. Try, no matter what you have to do to get there, put in the work, put in the effort and go see it, experience it, do it. It is absolutely worth it. I hope everyone that hears this gets to experience that moment of awe and joy and excitement, like I did that day at Mount Everest Base Camp. So that's my story of getting in Mount Everest Base Camp. I hope you enjoyed the episode. There'll be plenty more coming after this, but this is certainly one that I hope you're able to get some inspiration from and enjoyment from. It's quite the adventure.
Speaker 1:This has been Trade Tables and Time Zones. Worldwide travel is one of the funnest things you can do in life and it's our passion to talk about the good, the bad, the funny and the ugly. Nothing is off limits. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to like, rate and review. We'll be back soon, but in the meantime, find us on Instagram at Trade Tables and Time Zones, and for questions or comments, send your email to TraysAndTimes at gmailcom. Take care and see you next time on Trade Tables and Time Zones.
