Daily Chronicles

Our small team of six - two from India and four from the USA - came together in Kathmandu. There were greetings, laughter, and goodies exchanged - like the college kids again, standing on the brink of an adventure.

At the airport, we were welcomed with garlands and smiles and a ride to our hotel - all arranged by Alpine Ramblers. For some of us, this was the first in-person meeting despite years of friendship.

The excitement peaked when twelve more batchmates, fresh from completing the Khopra Ridge Trek, dropped in to meet us at the hotel. An impromptu reunion followed, marked by stories, laughter, and a celebratory bottle of Champagne. We also received video calls from friends who intended to but couldn't make it to Kathmandu.

Amid the reunion, we had our Pre trek briefing with Dil at Hotel Thamel Park. Payments were settled, expectations clarified, and we met our main guide, Dilman, who would lead us to Everest Base Camp.

Then came the gear. We were issued sleeping bags and large blue duffel bags-our world for the next twelve days. With a strict weight limit of 10-15 kg (plus a small daypack), tough choices had to be made. The duffel itself weighed 1.5 kg, the sleeping bag another 2.5 kg. Minimalism was no longer optional.

A short stroll through Thamel followed-Kathmandu’s buzzing tourist hub and a trekker’s paradise. Last-minute shopping, quick fixes, and a lot of window-shopping later, we returned to the hotel.

The night dissolved into a familiar ritual: packing, repacking, weighing, and re-weighing.

Up until a few weeks ago, we lost sleep since we were scheduled to fly from Ramechhap which was an overnight eight+ hour bumpy road trip from Kathmandu. Thankfully, Alpine Ramble managed to secure a direct Kathmandu-Lukla flight, sparing us a gruelling start.

Now, with bags packed and nerves humming, anticipation filled the atmosphere. The Lukla flight awaited us the next morning—the real beginning of the Everest Base Camp trek.

Some of us slept. Some stared at the ceiling. All of us knew one thing: the mountains were calling.