When I was planning my trip, I relied a lot on other hikers' account of their trip. Their day-to-day tale helped me with my confidence as I had some ideas how hard or easy the daily hike would be.
Sharing my day-to-day basis on the EBC trek last November 2018 so that you can decide if it's right for you.
Doing the EBC trek independently
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
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I started my day rather bad. Woke up at 4am; took shower, got ready and packed my things. At 4.50am, the taxi that Thamel Hostel staff arranged for me arrived. Said goodbye to the sleepy staff who opened the door, and off we went to the airport. But less than 10 minutes later, I realized that I left something important at the hostel. I forgot to take my wallet! It was under the pillow on the bed. Arghhhhhhh!!! How could I be so careless. I had no choice but to ask the taxi driver to turn back.
Along the ride to the airport again, I couldn't help but think is this a bad luck sign? Noooooo!!! I must be positive. I must be positive. I will conquer EBC.
We arrived at the airport at 5.30am. The taxi driver wanted to double charge my ride, another bad luck, but somehow I got away with it.
The check-in counters were very chaotic. I didn't know if there's any queue existed. The counters were swarmed with trekking agencies' guys and personal guides/porters trying to check in their clients first. Took a glimpse at my watch, 5.45am. Only half an hour left before my 6.15am flight.
If you can't beat them, join them. So I hustled my way to the front of the counter, and showed my booking. Thank God the staff noticed me. Once I got the boarding pass, it felt like I've passed the first hurdle. I can do this alone.
Quickly performed Subuh prayer at one of the empty corners before the staff called us for boarding. We departed to Lukla at 6.25am.
Doing the EBC trek independently
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
--------------------------------------------------
I started my day rather bad. Woke up at 4am; took shower, got ready and packed my things. At 4.50am, the taxi that Thamel Hostel staff arranged for me arrived. Said goodbye to the sleepy staff who opened the door, and off we went to the airport. But less than 10 minutes later, I realized that I left something important at the hostel. I forgot to take my wallet! It was under the pillow on the bed. Arghhhhhhh!!! How could I be so careless. I had no choice but to ask the taxi driver to turn back.
Along the ride to the airport again, I couldn't help but think is this a bad luck sign? Noooooo!!! I must be positive. I must be positive. I will conquer EBC.
We arrived at the airport at 5.30am. The taxi driver wanted to double charge my ride, another bad luck, but somehow I got away with it.
The check-in counters were very chaotic. I didn't know if there's any queue existed. The counters were swarmed with trekking agencies' guys and personal guides/porters trying to check in their clients first. Took a glimpse at my watch, 5.45am. Only half an hour left before my 6.15am flight.
If you can't beat them, join them. So I hustled my way to the front of the counter, and showed my booking. Thank God the staff noticed me. Once I got the boarding pass, it felt like I've passed the first hurdle. I can do this alone.
Quickly performed Subuh prayer at one of the empty corners before the staff called us for boarding. We departed to Lukla at 6.25am.
Lukla, the starting point of the EBC trek, is a small mountainside town in north-eastern Nepal. Getting here required taking a flight from Kathmandu. Alternatively, if you want to save cost or if your flight gets cancelled, you can take a bus or van to Jiri and hike from there but this will add four more days to your hiking journey.
The view from the flight was amazing!!!
the Himalayas
Pro tip: Sit on the left side of the plane for the gorgeous mountain view.
Hang on tight and say your prayer when you're landing in Lukla as it's one of the most dangerous airports in the world! The airport runway is very short and is angled upwards into the mountain in order to help arriving aircraft slows down. This same incline becomes a decline for the airplane taking off, helping them gain more speed to become airborne faster.
Hang on tight and say your prayer when you're landing in Lukla as it's one of the most dangerous airports in the world! The airport runway is very short and is angled upwards into the mountain in order to help arriving aircraft slows down. This same incline becomes a decline for the airplane taking off, helping them gain more speed to become airborne faster.
Lukla Airport runway
We arrived at 7am. As I exited the airport gate, a few locals approached me to offer porter service but I've made up my mind to do this on my own so I just smiled at them, shook my head and walked away. I felt a bit lost as I was alone but I pretended like I knew what I was doing. I just followed the path where everybody was going.
Lukla is situated at 2,860 metres, so I just lingered around for a while to acclimatize. I wanted to go to the toilet badly so I went inside one of the teahouse. Nobody was inside except an old lady, probably the owner. I asked her permission to use the toilet. Without saying anything, she just pointed downstairs. Done with my business, I felt awkward. I mean, I used the toilet and the owner didn't ask anything in return. So I sat down and ordered breakfast.
Nepali bread for breakfast
After my meal, I took my own sweet time to reorganize some of the things inside my backpack.
Ready to start the journey, I paid my bills, and went out. By this time, there weren't many hikers left as perhaps most of them started their journey right away after landing. I just walked along the path and arrived at the Solukhumbu check point. You have to pay the Rs 2000 local fees here.
Just a hundred metre away, an archway awaited me. The archway that I've seen so many times on the Internet, the starting point of the trail.
gateway to the Himalayas
I can say the first day of the EBC trek was the easiest. Well.. of course I was full of energy and very excited for the journey ahead so it felt 'easy'. But really, the trail to Phakding was mostly downhill; which is really nice right now, but definitely going to be hell on my way back hahaha.
mani stones
Passing the villages, I encountered countless mani stones and mani wheels. The stone, inscribed with Buddhist mantra, is one of the most popular forms of prayer and ritual in Tibetan culture. If you come across it, walk clockwise around them (take the left side).
Phakding village
bar on the mountain
Dudh Kosi river
crossing the first suspension bridge
Dudh Kosi river
I reached Phakding around noon. Made friend with Ali while I was waiting for my turn to cross the suspension bridge. He's the guide-porter for two ladies from Singapore. Also made friend with Abu, a guide for an Indian guy. (Clearly I made up their names cos I am sorry guyssss... I forgot your names). These locals, they were so concerned of me hiking alone. But they were confident I could do it and from them, I learnt the phrase 'bistari.. bistari', which means 'slowly..slowly'. Go slow to avoid the Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS).
mushroom pizza for lunch
Ali suggested I continue my journey to Monjo. According to him, it would take less than two hours to reach. It was still early and I was still feeling good so after lunch at Sunrise Lodge & Restaurant, I continued hiking. Heading to Monjo required a bit of going up but nothing strenuous. While taking a rest later, Abu and his client passed by. They were also heading to Monjo. Abu recommended me to stay at Mount Kailash Lodge so when I reached Monjo, I looked for the teahouse.
Only double rooms were available but I was lazy to scout around other teahouses so I decided to stay the night there.
Egg vege fried rice and hot lemon for dinner
Had my dinner, and spent some time on the net (paid for the Wifi cos my network was super slow) before retreating to my room. The room came attached with bathroom (and hot shower!) so I had a good first night (and day) on the trail.
Elevation at Lukla: 2,860 m
Elevation at Monjo: 2,835 m
Elevation Change: -25 m
Elevation Change: -25 m
Distance: 13 km
Duration: 7 1/2 hours, including lunch break
Amount spent:
Taxi to airport - Rs 700
Breakfast - Rs 100
Lunch - Rs 700
Dinner - Rs 530
Wifi & charging at Mount Kailash Lodge - Rs 500
Night stay at Mount Kailash Lodge, 2 bedroom AC with attached bath - Rs 700
Solokhumbu fee - Rs 2000
Total = Rs 5230
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Taxi to airport - Rs 700
Breakfast - Rs 100
Lunch - Rs 700
Dinner - Rs 530
Wifi & charging at Mount Kailash Lodge - Rs 500
Night stay at Mount Kailash Lodge, 2 bedroom AC with attached bath - Rs 700
Solokhumbu fee - Rs 2000
Total = Rs 5230
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
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