Gorak Shep Altitude: 5264 meters
Kalapathar Altitude: 5555 meters
Pheriche Altitude: 4900 meters
The first thing in my mind after I opened my eyes was “Thank God! I’m alive”. After the regular bathroom jobs, I went to the dining hall. It was pretty early, yet everyone on the teahouse was already at the dining hall. Near the left corner of the hall, there was Gun Das waiting for me with a bright smile on his face.
I was excited about Kalapathar. There on the table was my french toast, a fruit salad, and a bowl of garlic soup. After having breakfast, I carried my camera bag and Gun Das carried a few water bottles and some of his own stuff.
We were hiking towards “the black rock”, Kalapathar. It was early morning, and we were hiking through a frozen world. But I’d loaded myself with adequate warm gear. “The cold couldn’t even touch me”, well that was a joke. It was really cold walking over the heaps of snow.
Gun Das and I were talking at times. He was narrating some stories of trekking to Kalapathar with a few groups before. He said he misses them. I asked, “Will you be missing me?” He laughed and said, “ Will I ever forget you?”.
Waves of laughter and silences… The fear was still clouding over my head. I am so close, I wish I could make it up there. If you weren’t there pushing me, I’d never make it up to here, I said to Gun Das. “That’s my responsibility”, he said.
Walking the steep slope was hard. But what will it be like at the top? The query encouraged me. Slowly and steadily, we climbed. Tackling the hill, we finally conquered it. It was “Heaven”. There was nothing but peace. I could see nothing, but the soulful Himalayas and the whole sky. The view was too good. Aw! No word will do justice to the feeling I had up there.
The sun was coming up, the Himalayas were waking up. There was nothing, but everything. “This is it! The Heaven”, my mind my numb, my heart was as light as feather. The satisfaction of reaching Kalapathar, it was far better than anything else.
We were looking down at the Everest Base Camp and the incredible Khumbu glacier at a distance. I took a lot of pictures there. After spending the most remarkable moment of my life there, we decided to go downhill towards Gorakshep.
Walking downhill was also tough. I was holding my trekking poles so firm. We walked to our teahouse and joined the trekking trail back to Pheriche village.
I was so lost in what I saw up there. There was a feeling like should I shout out loud? Or should I frogmarch like something is pinching my senses? The trail was amazing. We trekked back to Pheriche and stayed there overnight.
Oh! What a beautiful day today.
Next Day: Day 10: Pheriche to Namche Bazaar
You may also like the articles on the previous day: Day 08: Lobuche to Everest Base Camp
