Everest Kala Patar
20 Days Round Trip, 15 Days Trekking. Max Altitude: 5545m
The Everest region needs little introduction. The beauty of it's
mountains and the hospitality and
warmth of it's Sherpa people are legendary. From the beginning,
the mountains dominate. As we fly
along the Himalayas to Hillary's Lukla mountain airstrip, the
views are magnificent. We arrive to find
we are already surrounded by soaring peaks.
Acclimatisation days allow time to explore villages such as
Namche Bazaar, where every Saturday
hundreds of people flock from as far away as Tibet to barter and
sell their produce. Thyangboche
monastery, the highest in the world, sits on a ridge looking
back down the valley from where we have
come and up to Nuptse and Lhotse, almost hiding the massive bulk
of Everest (8,848m). It is not
difficult to understand why the monks choose to meditate here,
though what the Yeti comes for is
quite another matter.
Moving closer and closer to Everest we journey beyond permanent
settlements to desolate wind blown
country. Across the barren land, over craggy rocks and glacial
moraines, to Lobuche. From this, our
highest campsite we walk up to Kala Patar. This is the longest
and hardest day of the trek, but the
effort is well worth it for the clear close views of the world's
highest mountain. Few people get any
nearer to this peak, which the Sherpas know by the name of
Sagamartha, "Mother Goddess of the
Earth".
Our descent, surprisingly fast, brings us back to Lukla and
to our flight to Kathmandu.
Trip Dates & Cost ex Melb/Syd
Sat 30 Sep – Thu 19 Oct ’06 $4,095
Sat 14 Oct – Thu 02 Nov ’06 $4,095
Sat 28 Oct – Thu 16 Nov ’06 $4,095
Sat 11 Nov – Thu 30 Nov ’06 $4,095
Sat 25 Nov – Thu 14 Dec ’06 $4,495
Sat 16 Dec – Thu 04 Jan ’07 $4,495
Sat 30 Dec – Thu 18 Jan ’07 $4,495
Sat 03 Feb – Thu 22 Feb ’07 $4,095
Sat 03 Mar – Thu 22 Mar ’07 $4,095
Sat 24 Mar – Thu 12 Apr ’07 $4,095
Sat 14 Apr – Thu 03 May ’07 $4,095
Cost ex Kathmandu $2,555
