[Closed] Who's been to Everest Base Camp?

My missus went a few years back, with Exodus.

Loved it. Didn't get ill (though a few did). Giggled incessantly apparently.

Biggest tip is to take things easy, especially the first few days.

Enjoy the flight into Lukla.....

Thats a very compact runway... can i have your bikes if it comes up short?

Like this?

Take Diamox for altitude sickness (buy it in KTH). Take Immodium in enormous quantities. Take a suitable anti-biotic from home (prescription from your doc).

Don't watch the above videos till you get home safe.

I did the Exodus trek to Gokyo about 20 years ago, which gets pretty close to base camp and is likely to be the same walk in from Lukla.
It's a fairly steady walk in, so plenty of time to get used to the altitude, so you may not suffer from altitude sickness. The days are hot, but the sun soon disappears and the temperature drops, so take lots of warm clothes for the evenings. We didn't have digital cameras then so I lugged about 20 rolls of film up there, which you won't have to worry about.
Have a good time, enjoy Lukla!

[quote=scotroutes]Like this?

That was when we were out there in 2010.. had to fly in to Lukla in an ancient Russian 'copter - slightly scary but all adds to the experience!

The altitude affects different people in different ways, you can't really tell how much until it hits you. Just take it steady, enjoy the scenery and people and make sure you drink lots of water.

Oh, and Kathmandu is pretty crazy too - make some time to have a bit of an explore if you can!

Photos of my trip [url= https://flic.kr/s/aHsjsNCsEN ]here[/url].

November's a good time to go

Get vaccinated up, invest in a great water filter and be prepared for digestive disorders of varying intensity. Be amazed at how far it is to the base camp and how far away the summit is from the base camp

The UK will seem mind-blowingly flat when you get back

[quote=rocketman] invest in a great water filter

This is a good shout, unless you like the taste of purification tablets! We bought a [url= http://www.iconlifesaver.eu/ ]LifeSaver[/url] and had no problems.

invest in a great water filter

We took one to Nepal, died on the first day. Luckily I also had Iodine, so relied on that for the next 3 weeks....

Take a metal (Sigg) water bottle with you. Fill it up with boiling water at night, pop it in a spare sock and use it as a hot water bottle.

Forget the plane and take the gentle walk from Jiri, may take and extra week or two.

Warm clothing / sleeping bags for sitting around in the evenings as it was freezing (sun cream for day time when the sun can be blazing).

Avoid salad, ice cubes and lasso's, take s water filter and filter water when u need it. I lived there for a few years so if u want to ask anything fire away. May or may not be able to answer. Martinvarey@yahoo.com

It's a brilliant part of the country

Give yourself a day or so to go to the bank (or you may need to go to more than one) to change your cash into small notes. Yes you'll end up with a brick of cash, but some places along the way won't be able to change the bigger notes.

If you can spare the time. Get the bus to Jiri and walk to Lukla. It's a great section of trail that is hardly used since the airport was built. People were so happy to see us in the tea shops/bunk houses, and the food along that section of trail was the best by far.

Having witnessed the crash in the video above first hand I was glad we hadn't flown in, what it doesn't show is the 12 or so guys and 2 ropes they used to clear the plane from the runway.... however we chose to fly out and our plane took off about an hour after they extracted the crashed one from the wall!

Finally, again if you have the time, come down to lukla via Gokyo and the sacred lakes. Stunning bit of trail, fewer crowds the main Everest route and the lakes (all slightly different colours) are stunning.

Not me but my brother. He got some amazing photos. He and two friends just sort of wandered up to base camp after flying in to lukla. He said the walk up is well worth it but that base camp is a bit of a mess (he may have described it as a s#@%hole). There's at least one Russian helicopter just before base camp lying wrecked in the Snow. They were also robbed by maoist guerrillas - though that was about twelve years ago and not at base camp.

It's of no help to you but, a guy at work is there right now.

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I went in 1990. Picture taken from Kala Patar near Gorak Shep - i don't think you get a good view of Everest if you go to basecamp (although I could be wrong). We walked in from Jiri and flew out from Lukla - it was a gravel runway then.

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I've cycled to the Tibetan one 8)

It's cold at night. First three days above 4000m are rough. First night is positively trippy. Take good sunnies and lip balm.

Prepare to be very impressed.