Thanh Hang just had a 15-day trip to conquer Everest Base Camp last October. Nepal's Everest Base Camp trekking route is a classic journey and a dream destination for many people, but the journey to conquer is never easy. From landslides, weather, altitude to dangerous terrain... all can threaten the lives of climbers at any time. However, perhaps this is the motivation that makes many people determined to reach this peak.
Thanh Hang just had a 15-day Everest Base Camp conquest in October.
Everest Base Camp is the base camp, the first point in the journey to conquer Mount Everest with an altitude of 5,364 m. This is considered a popular route when climbing mountains in Nepal.
If height is used as a benchmark, Thanh Hang's journey starts from sea level, followed by Lukla (2,860 m), Namche Bazar (3,440 m), Tengboche (3,860 m), Dingboche (4,410 m), Lobuche (4,940 m) and finally Everest Base Camp (5,364 m).
Thanh Hang decided to go on this trip quite by chance and had little time to prepare in advance. What she could prepare in the limited time was to train her physical strength to the maximum and take the right dose of altitude sickness medication, but when she started the journey, many problems arose.
Everest Base Camp is the base camp, the first point in the journey to conquer Mount Everest.
“Because the higher the altitude, the temperature changes suddenly, so I had a fever in the first few days of the journey. I had a sore throat and fever, but luckily the first day of the trip was quite easy. There were experienced people in the group, equipped with basic medicines, so I quickly recovered completely by the second day,” Thanh Hang said.
The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature and the dry air, making personal hygiene and breathing extremely difficult. By the time they returned to Vietnam, she and some of the group were still coughing and even had nosebleeds due to heat stroke.
The most memorable memory for Thanh Hang on this trip was probably the care and support of the members for each other. Although the group was meeting for the first time, they took good care of each other so that everyone could complete their conquest together.
Garlic soup is prepared differently by everyone. It can be made with milk, served with bread, or simply cooked with garlic in water.
During the trekking, Thanh Hang shared about eating: “I thought I was an easy-going person until I started the journey. Because Nepal is a country with up to 9 religions, abstaining from certain foods such as pork and beef is very strict, plus the highlands make raising livestock and transportation difficult, so meals only revolve around a few chicken dishes and vegetable soups. I personally really like garlic soup. This seems to be a dish for tourists because it helps relieve colds and restores strength very well, the taste is also very strange but of course it is only for those who can eat garlic. In the last days, my group and I had to rely on instant noodle packages brought from Vietnam because we could no longer eat local food.”
The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature.
As for keeping warm, it seems like not taking a bath is too cold (even though the lodge has hot shower service). The higher you go, the more you have to wear a layer of thermal clothing, until the journey ends and you return to the capital Kathmandu, then you can take a bath.
According to Thanh Hang, all of the above are just small matters, the most haunting thing is altitude sickness. Everyone must take anti-altitude sickness pills (pressure-regulating pills) before setting foot in Nepal and maintain 2 pills every day until reaching the Everest Base Camp milestone, then gradually reduce the altitude. There are many people who are too subjective, causing unfortunate incidents. Because altitude sickness, if severe, will lead to pulmonary edema, cerebral edema and death.
Having to overcome the dangerous roads, winding steep hills of high mountain valleys, the use of anti-altitude sickness drugs is so effective and that is Acetazolamide. In fact, from an altitude of 4,000 m or more, normal people will easily encounter symptoms of altitude sickness, so using drugs is almost mandatory. The Everest Base Camp route is a trekking route, so the body also needs time to adapt, but anyway, prevention is still the best.
Thanh Hang and other members of the group rest during the trekking process.
To emphasize the importance of taking anti-altitude sickness medication, Thanh Hang gave an example of a tourist who died when traveling to Ladakh. Ladakh is known as "little Tibet on Indian soil" because of its wild and majestic beauty. This place has recently attracted many Vietnamese and foreign tourists because of its easy journey, mainly traveling by plane and car.
Although Ladakh is lower than Everest Base Camp, the process of traveling by plane and car is too fast, the body does not have time to adapt, combined with not taking anti-pressure medicine, which leads to the tragic case. So never be subjective in using anti-altitude sickness medicine.
Thanh Hang added that tourists trekking Everest Base Camp during the year-end climbing season are susceptible to temperature shock. When she made the trip, the evening weather was around -22 degrees Celsius, which would be one of the difficulties for those who are afraid of the cold.
After a 15-day trip to conquer Everest Base Camp, Thanh Hang still had lingering effects after returning home such as: difficulty breathing, being susceptible to fever and colds, persistent sore throat, headache, numbness in limbs, and even heat stroke and nosebleeds.
By the time they returned to Vietnam, she and some of the group still had dry coughs and even nosebleeds due to heat shock.
"Everest Base Camp is a great trekking route and it seems to be a milestone worth experiencing for those who love adventure travel. This is not a difficult journey to conquer Mount Everest, and it is also a commercial route so there are many opportunities for those who want to experience. What you need to prepare is to learn carefully about the place you will go to and understand your body well to have a safe trip," Thanh Hang said.
