We started early morning from Rishikesh for Sari village. Within an hour we were at Devprayag. I have been to this place couple of times but its beauty never ceases to amaze me. Two rivers, one muddy another pristine, meet here to create Ganges. We stopped and descended down to the point of merger and just stayed there for a while.
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| Devprayag, merging of Bhagirathi and Alakananda rivers |
Rishikesh - Deoriatal - Tungnath
I truly explored Rishikesh on my trip to Deoriatal - Tungnath. We were three of us. An early morning Shatabdi dropped us at Haridwar and then we took a connecting train to Rishikesh. The holy city of Rishikesh has become a base for multiple routes and has grown itself multifold without expanding geographically.
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| View from Beatles Cafe |
We were in Dehradun to attend a marriage. We had the morning to spare and so we searched the internet for what we can do. We saw good reviews of a place mysteriously called the Robber’s Cave. It was enticing enough for us to take a trip. It was a half hour drive from our hotel.
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| Entrance to Robber’s Cave |
Breakfast at The Goat Village was equally tasty. The manager told us to pack some parathas to enjoy at the summit. One of the hotel workers accompanied us as guide. We were the only ones on the trek. The first leg was pleasant. We were able to hit the forest within an hour. Then the challenging segment started.
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| The snow clad trek to Nagtibba |
I have been to mussoorie so many times and heard of Nagtibba so often that it was a surprise when we found ourselves going there on a split second decision. We were drinking tea at the Mall Road in Mussoorie. It was 4PM. We were coming from Kanatal after visiting the famous Surkanda Devi Temple. What should we do now? I tossed in the idea of Nagtibba and in few minutes we were on the way.
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| Beautiful Pantwari Village from above |
Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6
While I somewhat recovered, my friends suggested we arrange for a helicopter. This was something. From feeling almost okay to getting back to Lukla on a helicopter in such a short time was something I was not able to comprehend. I resisted. Thankfully me friends were more sensible.
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| Golden crest @ Lobuche |
Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6
Next morning we started after another cold breakfast for Narkang. It’s an adjacent hill to Dingboche. The climb was steep. We started as a batch but someone kept calling quits so by the time we hit the top only five of us were remaining. The view from here was breathtaking. Dingboche and Periche (one of our stops upon returning) were clearly visible.
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| On way to Narkang peak |
Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6
Tiangboche is only 1000ft above Namche. However crossing a river means going 2000ft down and then 3000ft up. The route plan was also not helpful. Going down, the easy part, was before lunch and going up was post-lunch. Unaware of details since there was no briefing, we started merrily on the flat looking trek towards Tiangboche.
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| View from the Tiangboche climb |
Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6
At night we had a scuffle with our trekking agency as they were forcing us to eat food from restaurant of our hotel. Namche is unique in the EBC route as it has numerous options for eating and shopping. This was another way for the agency for earning money. We rebelled and ate at a nearby bakery.
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| First glance of Namche |
Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6
We rested in a restaurant that was only about 100m away from the airport. In fact entire Lukla is within the walking distance of the airport. By 11 we were fresh and started for our next stop which was Phakding. Professional trekkers go for Namchi directly but we were amateurs.
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| On way to Phakding |